June 25, 2002	Tuesday	Rabi-us-Sani 13, 1423

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LONDON, June 24: FIFA president Sepp Blatter has rubbished allegations of a conspiracy involving South Korea after a number of controversial refereeing decisions helped the co-hosts reach the semifinals.

“Any allegations of a conspiracy in favour of Korea Republic are dismissed in their entirety,” Blatter said in a statement.

Criticism of the refereeing at the World Cup has gathered pace after Spain’s quarterfinal defeat to South Korea last week. Some press reports and fans have made unsubstantiated allegations that certain games may have been fixed.

Spain lost on penalties after having two goals disallowed, one of them an extra-time ‘golden goal’.

Italy were also victims of poor refereeing when they were defeated by South Korea in the previous round. Italy had a goal disallowed for offside and playmaker Francesco Totti was controversially sent off before they lost 2-1 in extra time.

FIFA admitted that major refereeing errors have taken place and Blatter told a meeting of the World Cup referees committee to appoint the best officials for this week’s semifinals rather than select them on a regional basis.—Reuters