FIFA’s director of refereeing Pierluigi Collina defended the referee in Tuesday’s semifinal between France and Spain following criticism from France coach Didier Deschamps.
Following Spain’s 2-0 win in Arlington, Texas, Deschamps questioned whether Salvadoran official Iván Barton was up to the task of refereeing a World Cup semifinal.
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“If I say anything, I’ll look like a sore loser because we lost,” Deschamps said. “But I ask you: is the referee up to the task of officiating a semifinal? There’s the penalty, but that’s not all; it adds to everything else. I have nothing against the referee tonight, but ask yourselves the question.”
However when asked to respond to Deschamps’ question, Collina, himself a former World Cup final referee, said in a statement: “Yes, absolutely.” He added: “Our referees are world class.”
Collina has previously spoken out in defense of officials at the World Cup following criticism from Egypt after their loss to Argentina.
Mikel Oyarzabal scored from the penalty spot after Lamine Yamal drew a foul, and Pedro Porro added another goal to put Spain in their second World Cup final.
After trying to become only the third team to reach three consecutive World Cup finals, France instead will play in the third-place game in Miami Gardens, Florida, on Saturday.
“Spain has been able to defend well,” Deschamps said. “They’ve closed out all the spaces and also we’ve made some technical mistakes. So it is difficult to create problems when the technical level is below standard.”
Spain will face either defending champions Argentina or England on Sunday in East Rutherford, New Jersey, across the river from New York City.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
