At the height of the controversy surrounding the questionable call referee Yuichi Nishimura had made that allowed Brazil to do a penalty kick during its game on Thursday against Croatia, FIFA has chosen to respond to the allegations and decided to side with the embattled referee.
The Independent said FIFA's referee chief Massimo Busacca insisted that there was contact between Brazilian player Fred and Croatian Dejan Lovren even though the contact was minimal.
"The referees know the responsibility at the World Cup is a lot, every decision can change a lot. In refereeing, we have black and white but we also have cases that can be on the borderline. Yesterday [Thursday], we can discuss; was it enough (contact)? Yes or no? On the pitch, the referee takes a decision in less than one second. He is concentrated on the gesture and when you see the hands doing something, it's difficult to arrive at one conclusion. This is what the referee saw on the pitch, he had a good position, but he is not the attacker or the defender, we have to ask them if it's enough (contact) to fall down."
On the other hand, Busacca fell short of saying whether the public, and the football teams will be expecting Nishimura on the field in future matches. FIFA reportedly chooses to name each set of match officials in the days following the actual game, the Independent said.
Busacca also added that Nishimura's performance will undergo evaluation prior to a decision on whether he will be appointed referee to a particular match. He had also acknowledge the comments made by anyone who doubts Nishimura's performance, and said that that is their opinion.
"For every player, we can consider their performance and how they did - for referees it is the same. Mistake? It's your opinion, you can say it if you want," the referee chief said.
