Green signal to more red cards by FIFA

Lucerne (Switzerland): Referees at the World Cup will send off players who elbow or tackle recklessly, FIFA said on Saturday.

A meeting of the governing body's International Football Association Board (IFAB) in Lucerne also approved yellow cards for shirt pulling or holding an opponent, as well as for playing the ball after the referee has blown his whistle.

"The FIFA World Cup is the perfect platform to send out this message to the whole world of football as people all around the globe will follow the 64 matches in Germany," said FIFA President Sepp Blatter.

"The stars of the tournament will serve as role models for hundreds of millions of other players around the world. So it is all the more important that Germany 2006 sets a positive example."

The modifications will apply at the June 9-July 9 World Cup.

The IFAB meeting also agreed on further tests for goal-line technology to determine whether a goal has been scored or not, provided an immediate decision can be made.

It approved the continuation of an experiment using computer chips inside balls, as well as a proposal by the Italian soccer association to use digital cameras.

The board also confirmed that players' kits must be composed of separate items - shirt, shorts, socks, shinguards and shoes - after Cameroon proposed an all-in-one kit for the 2002 World Cup.

Players who are not on the pitch, including substitutes, are also liable to be punished for breaking the game's laws, IFAB decided.