The opening match of this year's World Cup in Brazil has started in a controversial fashion, with referee Yuichi Nishimura from Japan handing Brazil what appeared to be an extremely generous penalty for its almost nonexistent contact by a rival Croatian player against its striker Fred. On the second day, Colombian referee Wilmar Roldán, who is reportedly on his first senior international tournament, had disallowed two goals made by Mexico in what could have been a blowout victory over Cameroon. Monday's game also saw Switzerland's perfectly good goal disallowed by Uzbek referee Ravshan Irmatov, in its game against Ecuador that resulted to a time-stopping goal.
The Guardian said that although the first few days of the tournament had showcased the talent of some of the top football players all over the world, it also showed how referees in the World Cup would require more experience in officiating international matches. According to Simon Burnton from the paper, it is ridiculous for football players from all over the world go through many lengths to get membership in their nation's official team while referees have been chosen from different unrelated backgrounds to fulfill the roles with their hazy judgement.
FIFA has attempted to dismiss the capability of its referees to handle international matches, and said in a statement, "The referees selected for the World Cup in Brazil have been chosen based especially on their personality and their quality in football understanding by being able to read the game and the teams' tactical approaches towards each game."
Burnton suggested that it would be a good idea for professional leagues to open opportunities for World Cup referees to at least officiate matches prior to the global tournament. He wrote, "Perhaps what has been learned is that the bigger confederations need to open the doors to their major club and international competitions and allow the best referees from the game's diaspora to prove and improve themselves there, just as their players do. Increasingly the cream of the world's footballing talent hone their skills at clubs in only a few nations but referees are still largely confined to the country and continent of their birth. While in a game increasingly shorn of romance there is pleasure to be had from watching Lionel Messi getting bossed around by a 39-year-old teacher from El Salvador, it might help if the two could meet more often."
