Blatter Attacks FIFA Committee on Referees
Blatter attended the start of a meeting where the officials for the semifinals on Tuesday and Wednesday were decided.
FIFA media officer Mick Michels said Blatter told the committee to "do a good job and appoint the best referees" for Tuesday's Germany-South Korea clash in Seoul and Wednesday's Brazil-Turkey game in Saitama.
Spain and Italy were incensed by the refereeing of their games against co-hosts South Korea, who beat the Italians in the second round with a golden goal and the Spanish team in the quarterfinal after a penalty shootout on Saturday.
Blatter told the Australian television show "Sportswatch" that he made a similar plea to the committee before the quarterfinals but was ignored, Reuters reported.
"What we have witnessed in past matches, and specifically matches where the home team of Korea was involved, I have to say I have difficulties understanding our Referee Committee concerning the designation of the referees and the linesmen," he said.
"Because I went to the meeting of this committee at the beginning of the week and told them: 'Now please, for the quarterfinal take the best men, wherever they are coming from, and even repeat them because we cannot afford to have errors in the quarterfinal." He added: "My message was obviously understood in the committee but not implemented." FIFA spokesman Keith Cooper said "major mistakes" had been made in the finals but dismissed out of hand allegations by Spanish and Italian fans that their games may have been fixed.
"There have been one or two major mistakes which are cause for concern," he said.
"The referees have been very well prepared. (But) referees are only human and errors can never be entirely discounted.
Emotions have bubbled over which is understandable. "Conspiracy theories crop up in all walks of life and in 99 percent of cases they are unfounded. This one is one of the 99 percent."