Instant one-match ban for red-card culprits

Fifa, world football's governing body, yesterday moved to protect the authority of referees by announcing that any player who is sent off will have to serve an immediate one-match ban with no right of appeal.

The news came on the same day that the England coach, Sven Goran Eriksson, called for referees to have the right to use instant television replays during matches to help them adjudicate on difficult decisions.

The red card ruling, announced by the Fifa president, Sepp Blatter, will be enforced in every league in world. Players who have been sent off will miss the next match of the competition in which they were dismissed, and will be allowed to appeal only against extra suspensions imposed above the one-game ban or to claim a case of mistaken identity.

The move will cause changes in disciplinary procedures in the domestic game, where until now dismissed players have had 14 days before they have to serve a suspension, and where in the past some have escaped bans by using video evidence.

Fifa will be contacting all 204 national associations over the next few days to inform them of the decision and the new ruling is expected to come into force next month.

The ruling is aimed at protecting match officials after several cases in which referees' decisions have been undermined. It is understood that Alan Shearer's successful appeal against a red card for elbowing Charlton's Jon Fortune in December last season was one of the cases which prompted Fifa's rethink. After the referee Andy D'Urso reviewed the incident, all punishment was rescinded but under the new rules Shearer would have had to serve at least a one-match ban.

A more recent incident occurred in the Swiss league this season where the Grasshopper goalkeeper, Fabrice Borer, was sent off for fouling the Basle striker Herve Tum. Swiss disciplinary authorities later rescinded the red card.

Blatter told a news conference in Zurich: "A referee's decision has no space for speculation. A player expelled by the referee has to serve a one-match suspension immediately. If people start casting doubt on the referee they start casting doubt on football.

"The Swiss league is not the only one which has more or less disregarded the referee's decision. There have been some cases in the Spanish league and in England as well. If a player commits a foul and is sent off then no scientific evidence, whether cameras or other, shall change this decision."

The FA said they will have to wait for the Fifa notification and will examine the new ruling before making any comment.

However, Gordon Taylor, the chief executive of the Professional Footballers' Association, said that rather than strengthen the referee's position the move could lead to further criticism. He said: "Technology is there to show an error has been made but you are going to get an 'Alice in Wonderland' situation where the whole world can see an error but they carry on."

Eriksson, attending a summit of national coaches held by the European governing body, Uefa, in Warsaw, offered a way of helping referees with all their decisions. "The referees have a very difficult job," he said. "It is time to ask technology for help. If the referee wants help, he should have the option to go to the touchline and look at the review during the game... especially if it is happening inside the penalty box. Surely, when the referee blows for a penalty or not, he cannot be 100 per cent certain every time. And when he's not sure, why not go out there [to see the replay]? It would take 30 seconds."

While the England coach's views were presumably intended to strengthen the integrity of referees, they were not shared by Pierluigi Collina, the Italian who was voted the world's top referee for the fourth time this year. He said: "Football is a nice sport played with the same rules for a long time and I think we could enjoy football in the future played the same way as it is today."

Fifa's ruling came alongside a major upheaval of its referees committee. At the World Cup Blatter, and several competing countries including Italy, were unhappy at some of the refereeing in the competition.

Blatter has disclosed that nine out of 10 of the members on Fifa's referees committee were being replaced by fresh faces. The Spaniard Angel Villar Llona is the only committee member to keep his seat and he becomes the new chairman.