Refs urged to show more red cards

Referees should show more red cards to help curb violent play, according to Fifa's medical chief.

And Michel D'Hooghe has made a link between violent play and the financial riches on offer to players.

"We see more violent fouls over the whole world, as games gain in financial importance," said D'Hooghe, who has produced a DVD of some of the worst fouls committed in recent years for Fifa's medical congress in October.

"Some of the fouls send shivers down your spine. We see more violent fouls over the whole world," he said.

"The referees have the key. They are the only ones who can impose an immediate sanction.

"They do not do it often enough and there is a lack of uniformity."

He also criticised the actions of coaches, who he believes are not doing enough to control the problem.

"The stakes are so high I question the role of some coaches," he added. "In what frame of mind do they send out their players?"

D'Hooghe, a former president of the Belgian League, has pinpointed the tackle from behind and the illegal use of the elbow as the two worst kinds of foul.

Referees in internationals were instructed to show an automatic red card for illegal use of the elbow following the 2002 World Cup in South Korea and Japan in which 12 players sustained facial injuries.

Four years later in Germany the number of such injuries dropped to only two.

But it is within the domestic leagues that the most high-profile injuries occur.

In August, Standard Liege's Axel Witsel broke both bones in the right leg of Polish international defender Marcin Wasilewski in a match against Anderlecht in Belgium.

Wasilewski has begun legal proceedings for damages, while Witsel was banned until late November.

In February 2008, Croatia international Eduardo - playing for Arsenal - had his leg broken and suffered an ankle dislocation following a tackle by Birmingham City's Martin Taylor. The defender was shown a red card but Eduardo did not play again for a year.

And Ben Thatcher was involved in a notorious incident in August 2006, when playing for Manchester City against Portsmouth. Challenging Pedro Mendes for a loose ball, Thatcher led with his elbow, knocking Mendes into the advertising hoardings leaving the player unconscious.

D'Hooghe has written to Fifa's referees committee chief, Angel Villar, to express his concerns.