SEOUL, June 12: World Cup officials plan to censor television replays on giant screens in stadiums, fearing controversial incidents could spark crowd violence, a spokesman for football’s governing body said Wednesday.

FIFA president Sepp Blatter had championed a campaign to give spectators full television coverage in stadiums, but reversed his position after attending a World Cup game, FIFA communications director Keith Cooper told a news conference.

“We are revising this,” Cooper said. “Our basic attitude still remains that it would be preferable, in an ideal world, to show the whole replays on the screen, but experience is beginning to show that is not always prudent.”

Television pictures have been shown in grounds at previous World Cups. But all coverage is being broadcast on big screens at the finals in South Korea and Japan for the first time.

FIFA had previously adopted an “everything or nothing” approach, saying that censoring replays would cast doubt on refereeing decisions.

But stadium officials decided to censor the pictures in the first half of England’s game with Sweden because they threatened to inflame the crowd.—Reuters