Jorge Larrionda Strikes Again

As I was watching the highlights of the England vs. Germany match, the match that included Frank Lampard's now infamous "ghost goal," a certain piece of information caught my ear. The referee for the match was Jorge Larrionda from Uruguay. Sound familiar? If you're American, it probably does.

Larrionda was the referee in the infamous USA vs. Italy match in the 2006 World Cup. He correctly sent off Daniele De Rossi for a brutal, blood-drawing elbow on Brian McBride. He then proceeded to send off Pablo Mastroeni and Eddie Pope for the USA, which were both widely regarded as "make-up calls" by American commentators. Three years later, he questionably sent off Michael Bradley in the semi-final of the Confederations Cup, causing him to miss the final against Brazil.

One would think that perhaps Larrionda is biased against the United States. However, the horrendous call regarding Lampard's goal and the fact that he missed a handball in the Australia vs. Serbia game (if Serbia had scored the subsequent penalty, they would have gone through to the Round of 16) raises the possibility that he is simply incompetent. There is, however, another possibility.

Larrionda was selected as a referee for the 2002 World Cup, but did not take part after he was suspended by the Uruguayan FA for six months. The reason? According to Wikipedia, it was due to "irregularities that were denounced by other referees." ESPN goes further: "The suspensions reportedly were connected with accusations of corruption between members of rival unions that represent Uruguay's match officials." While he did not referee in 2002, he was inexplicably chosen for 2006 and 2010, despite questionable performances and a suspicious suspension from his own country.

FIFA President Sepp Blatter has since apologized to England and said they would look into goal-line technology. However, FIFA's history of employing this incompetent - and quite possibly "irregular," whatever that means - referee suggests that they simply don't care very much about getting big calls right.