Pressure on men in black

If the best referees are those who are barely noticed until they blow their final whistle, the men in the middle of the action at next month's World Cup finals are hoping to be virtually invisible.

Pressure on the "men in black" has never been greater than at this year's tournament as have expectations that the refs will not only be fair -- to the best of their ability -- but also accurate beyond the shadow of a TV replay.

FIFA issued warnings to its elite pack of whistle-blowers that they will be summarily punished for gross errors in Germany by not being picked for any further World Cup matches.

The world governing body has also made clear "only human" is an excuse it does not want to hear after blunders in 2002 left a bad taste -- especially in Italian and Spanish mouths.

Weighing further on their minds are several referee scandals, such as last year in domestic leagues in Germany and Brazil. More recently, there have been investigations in officiating in Italy and match-fixing in the Netherlands.

On top of it all, outright blunders and questionable calls in big matches by some the world's best refs, including in the semi-finals and final of the Champions League, kept an unwanted spotlight on match officiating.

"If you make a big mistake in your first game, it will be your last game, and that's something that has been made very clear to us," said Graham Poll, England's World Cup referee.

"The message is very, very clear," he told the BBC. "They (FIFA) will be very supportive...but there is a very, very high standard expected."

FIFA vowed to make improvements after 2002, when both Spain and Italy were knocked out after controversial referee calls.

But the lingering question is: can the referee and his two assistants really keep tabs on 22 highly-tuned athletes, many of whom would not hesitate to deceive if it would help their team?

Norwegian referee Terje Hauge admitted he erred by blowing for a foul too early when Arsenal keeper Jens Lehmann took out Barcelona's Samuel Eto'o in the Champions League final, denying Barcelona the goal that followed. Lehmann was sent off and later said the game is now too fast for referees.

Steps to improve referee performance include doubling their salaries to $40,000 from the last World Cup and cutting the number of referees to 22 from 36 -- to give those on hand more time in action and, theoretically, help them stay sharp.

Tough fitness requirements were enforced and those who fell short on sprint and endurance were unceremoniously dumped.

All were also required, for the first time, to demonstrate proficiency in English -- both written and spoken.

Another first: refereeing trios will be from the same country or at same confederation this year.

"The referee teams have all been together for months or even years," said Hellmut Krug, head of referees at the German football association (DFB), who welcomed the 22 referees and their assistants to a training camp near Frankfurt on Thursday.

"That should guarantee they are on the same wavelength," he added of the men FIFA president Sepp Blatter called the World Cup's "33rd team". "They understand each other without words."

In the event words are needed, the referees will now have head-set radio devices to communicate -- also a first.

Germany had hoped that a match-rigging scandal that hit in 2005 around former referee Robert Hoyzer would be laid to rest by now but the spectre of corruption is haunting the tournament.

FIFA originally picked 23 teams of referees. But Italian Massimo De Santis and his assistants were removed in the wake of the investigation in Italy into match-rigging.

"Everyone's innocent until proven otherwise, but it's still hard to swallow," said Markus Merk, a German referee and one of the few known faces left since prolific colleagues such as Italy's Pierluigi Collina and Sweden's Anders Frisk retired.

Even an official of his standing knows the pitfalls after he was criticised for a controversial disallowed goal in AC Milan's Champions League semi-final exit. He will be hoping to remain as anonymous as possible next month.