would not be welcome for a holiday in their country after he disallowed two goals and sent off two of their players in their match against Chile -- decisions that cost them a place in the last 16.

Denmark suggested Colombian official Tore Pendren should be forced to march back to South America unaided after he sent off three players and cautioned seven others in a game of only 22 free-kicks against South Africa.

Glenn Hoddle was less outspoken about Denmark's Kim Nielson, in charge of Tuesday's explosive and dramatic tie between England and Argentina, but has let it be known that he felt crucial decisions went against his side.

Now it may be easy to criticise and few, if any, of us have had the experience of having our decisions in the workplace subject to the scrutiny of repeated television replays, not to mention the instant approval or disapproval of 40,000 partisan onlookers.

But the fact remains, as France 98 pauses for much-needed breath before the first of the quarter-finals tomorrow, this showpiece of soccer risks being remembered not for the quality of football but the appalling inconsistency of the various men in the middle.

An analysis of Neilson's performance, for example, shows that he gave two penalties that weren't, missed one that was, dubiously disallowed a goal and sent off a man that, it is widely agreed, deserved little more than a yellow card.

But, let's put those to one side for a moment: Anyone, in the heat of the moment, can make an honest mistake. P ivotal though those decisions were, more worrying was his inability to be fair and consistent in his rulings.

It is an easy way out to blame referees, some will say, and to some extent they are right. Others may contend that players bring things on themselves, falling as if caught by sniper fire at the merest touch. And again they will have a point.

Conspiracy theorists -- adding to claims of an anti-African agenda that saw off Cameroon and South Africa -- will say it was all a plot to get rid of the troublesome England support that so endeared itself with its imported culture of beer and brawling.

But barring corruption on such a massive scale as to make the tournament meaningless, let's rule that one out.

If you're looking to apportion blame, lay it instead on the shoulders of FIFA, the world governing body -- an organisation so political in its manouvreings that Sepp Blatter, its newly-elected president, managed to change certain votes for rival Lennart Johannsen to his side overnight at the recent poll.

Blatter, for all his honourable intentions in making football a truly global game, is the man who, given half a chance, would tear it apart by outlawing tackling. Hence the edict to officials at the beginning of the tournament that a tackle from behind of any description would warrant an immediate red card.

When referees showed a good deal of common sense in the initial rounds, getting the notebook out for only the intentional and vicious varieties, Blatter and his sidekick Michele Platini issued a an edict ordering a clampdown.

What we got was a rash of dismissals from a band of inexperienced referees trembling from the threat of being sent home early. Interestingly enough, most of these dismissals penalised the lesser nations -- the Cameroons, the Mexicos, the Denmarks and the South Africas -- those without the football muscle to make too much of their misfortune, while misdeeds of some of the more powerful often went unnoticed.

Sixteen red cards were issued in the first 48 games of the tournament, equalling the record set in 1990 -- in 52 games. The average of .3 red cards this tournament surpasses the .22 of four years ago.

FIFA would do football a much bigger favour by taking a wider view -- in essence, focussing more on the level of consistency of those it appoints rather than specific types of offences.

It is no good sending off one player for a tackle from behind, if another, by the opposition, is to go unpunished.

While world footballing figures have rushed to condemn Nielson's handling of England's game -- Pele and Italian goalkeeper Gianluca Pagliuca among them -- FIFA has remained silent. If it does ultimately make a statement it will probably wheel out spokesman Keith Cooper, a fo rmer ref himself, to make a bland comment about how it is satisfied with the general level of officiating.

They may be satisfied, but they cannot fool the watching public who, while lapping up the drama, will ultimately be left with a sour taste in their mouths as match after match is spoiled.

If they doubt this, they might reflect on the response of the Argentinian Press to Nielson: While wildly celebrating their country's victory, sports daily Ole gave Nielson a zero out of ten.

SCAPEGOATS: David Beckham (left) and David Batty.

More World Cup reaction, Page 23