France penalised by refereeing, coach says

HAMELIN, Germany, June 20 (Reuters) France have been the victims of several controversial refereeing decisions in the World Cup, coach Raymond Domenech said today.

''In the two matches we have played there have been three decisions (by referees) which have clearly penalised us,'' Domenech told a news conference.

''We cannot accept repeated refereeing mistakes going against us,'' he added.

France, who started with a 0-0 with Switzerland before drawing 1-1 with South Korea, need to beat Togo by two goals on Friday to make sure of surviving Group G.

Domenech said the 1998 champions should have been awarded a penalty against Switzerland and were denied a valid goal that would have put them 2-0 up against South Korea.

Domenech felt Russian referee Valentin Ivanov should have given a penalty when a shot by Thierry Henry hit Swiss defender Patrick Mueller's hand.

The incident in the game against South Korea was a header by midfielder Patrick Vieira from a corner that appeared clearly to cross the line before Korean keeper Lee Won-jae pushed it out.

Mexican referee Benito Archundia ruled it was not a goal.

Domenech also blamed Ivanov for booking Zidane for taking a free kick too quickly.

''I've never seen anybody booked for that sort of thing before,'' the France coach said.

Zidane was then booked by Archundia in the next game for shoving a Korean defender and will be suspended for the Togo match as a result.

''That was fussy refereeing,'' Domenech said of Zidane's second booking. ''If you give a yellow card for that, not many teams at this World Cup will finish with 11 men.'' Domenech said not only France but also Togo had suffered from refereeing mistakes.

''Togo were also denied a penalty (in yesterday's 2-0 defeat by Switzerland),'' the France coach said, refereeing to an incident in the 35th minute, when Paraguayan referee Carlos Amarilla waved play on after Togo striker Emmanuel Adebayor appeared to be brought down in the box by Mueller.

''Switzerland have been largely favoured by refereeing in their two matches,'' Domenech added.

REUTERS AY PM2055