BERLIN, June 28 - FIFA president Sepp Blatter has criticised referees at the World Cup for being inconsistent and not following instructions properly.

FIFA president Joseph Blatter addresses a news conference in Berlin June 23, 2006. [Reuters]

"I've noted that instructions aren't being followed consistently from one match to another," Blatter was quoted as saying on Wednesday in an interview with FIFA's website.

"When a coach complains to me that shirt-pulling earned his player a yellow card one night and nothing for his team's group rivals the next, how am I supposed to respond?

"And then there are the tackles from behind I've seen go unpunished and the violent conduct that has escaped sanction, not to mention the serious errors made in applying the rules."

Blatter's comments on fifaworldcup.com follow high profile refereeing controversies in the last week.

English referee Graham Poll previously earned Blatter's wrath after a technical error in the first round match between Australia and Croatia in Stuttgart on June 22 when he booked the same player three times then sent him off.

Russian referee Valentin Ivanov created a World Cup record on Sunday when he sent off four players in the second round match between Netherlands and Portugal.

Blatter said after that match that Ivanov should have been yellow carded himself because of his performance.

Blatter has criticised referees at previous World Cups, but his remarks this time reflect badly on FIFA who believed that by establishing teams of referees with regular assistants in well-practised trios, previous problems would be eradicated.

This has not happened here and Blatter said he found it incomprehensible that Poll was not alerted by his assistants through their headphone devices to the error he had made.

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