The head of FIFA's medical committee on Saturday hailed an overall decrease in World Cup injuries and an increase in fair play, but wants referees to get even tougher during the rest of the tournament.
Michel D'Hooghe said in an interview with The Associated Press that there were several tackles and elbows thrown during the group stage that could easily have broken a jaw or a leg.
``We could have had another (Marcin) Wasilewski,'' D'Hooghe said, referring to the Polish international who lost almost a full season after a vicious foul broke both bones in his leg last August.
He refused to mention specific teams or players.
D'Hooghe also said he was unhappy that some elbowing resulted only in bookings and not an automatic red card.
He said he had approached Angel Maria Villar Llona, the head of FIFA's Referee Committee, and FIFA president Sepp Blatter to make sure referees would be tough on such actions in the knockout rounds.
``Overall, the refereeing is good, but it could be improved on the issues I raised,'' D'Hooghe said.
For years now, D'Hooghe has campaigned for tougher sanctioning as violent fouls increased globally. He even produced a DVD of some of the worst fouls committed in recent years to help get the message across at a FIFA medical congress attended by all national federations in October.
To a certain extent, it seems to have had an impact at this World Cup.
While exact statistics are not yet available, D'Hooghe said ``we have seen less injuries than at other World Cups.
``Our prevention campaigns have worked,'' he said. ``And I have also seen an improvement of fair play on the pitch.''
D'Hooghe also said all doping tests were negative so far.
The 2002 tournament in South Korea and Japan saw no less than a dozen serious facial injuries from elbowing. That decreased to two injuries in Germany four years ago when the medical staff at FIFA campaigned to make an elbow to the face an automatic red card offense.
The most famous incident in South Africa was when France's Yoann Gourcuff was sent off against the host nation in the first half for jumping up for a header with his elbows raised, hitting Macbeth Sibaya in the head. After the game, Gourcuff said ``I didn't know that he was behind me,'' but wouldn't complain about the decision itself.
D'Hooghe said cracking down on foul play at the World Cup will also help decrease injuries in other competitions.
``The World Cup stands as an example for the next four years,'' D'Hooghe said.
