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FIFA officials announced the list of referees continuing their work during the crucial matches of the World Cup. In the group stage and the round of 16 matches, 21 referees were in charge, but now only 12 remain - the remaining 9 had their work evaluated poorly and have already gone home. Among those not staying in Germany are perhaps the most famous Englishman Graham Poll and Russian Valentin Ivanov. Both referees were unable to properly perform their duties during the matches they officiated and as a result faced harsh criticism. G. Poll, in the match between Croatia and Australia, sent off defender Josip Simunic from the field after showing him only three yellow cards. Moreover, the experienced referee faced media criticism for not awarding a clear handball penalty and for several other decisions that could have been crucial. Meanwhile, V. Ivanov could see his name in almost every newspaper worldwide after the quarter-final match between the Netherlands and Portugal. Showing emotions on the field, the Russian referee displayed 16 yellow and 4 red cards, setting a new record for World Cup championships. There are doubts whether this referee will ever be able to work during such important matches again. It is worth mentioning that after these matches, FIFA president Sepp Blatter, unable to hide his disappointment, insisted that the yellow card should have been shown to Ivanov himself. The remaining referees will continue working with the same assistants. World Cup quarter-final referees: Germany - Argentina (Lubos Michel, Slovakia) Italy - Ukraine (Frank De Bleeckere, Belgium) England - Portugal (Horacio Elizondo, Argentina) Brazil - France (Luis Medina Cantalejo, Spain) Referees remaining in the championship: Benito Archundia (Mexico) Frank De Bleeckere (Belgium) Massimo Busacca (Switzerland) Luis Medina Cantalejo (Spain) Coffi Codjia (Benin) Horacio Elizondo (Argentina) Toru Kamikawa (Japan) Jorge Larrionda (Uruguay) Markus Merk (Germany) Lubos Michel (Slovakia) Roberto Rosetti (Italy) Mark Shield (Australia) Removed referees: Essam Abd El Fattah (Egypt) Graham Poll (England) Valentin Ivanov (Russia) Marco Rodriguez (Mexico) Eric Poulat (France) Carlos Simon (Brazil) Shamsul Maidin (Singapore) Carlos Amarilla (Paraguay) Oscar Ruiz (Colombia)
