>>>A dubious penalty in the last few seconds of stoppage time? Give me a break!
>>>Should have gone to extension.
>>
>>I agree but for the reason of the call just follow the money. Which teams will generate the most viewers worldwide, Australia or Italy? When there is a tough call to make the ref will go with the team that will generate the most money going forward. It's always about the money.
>
>Do you think the referee made all the "money" calculations in a split second of deciding on penalty kick? Seems like one of those conspiracy theories <g>

No and thats a silly conclusion to draw. What my post implies is that the referees are instructed to favour the most popular teams in ambiguous situations which can affect the outcome of a game. The ref does not have to do "money calculations"!?

The logic is quite simple - World Cup and FIFA are for-profit businesses. They will want to maximize their returns. Nothing wrong with that whatsoever, we all do that in our own businesses as well. Therefore they will want to maximize the number of viewers which in turn affects advertising and marketing revenues and related aspects. And yes referees at that level are more than sufficiently expert to be able to make split second decisions like that.