Conspiracy Theory: Why English Referee was Replaced

The coaches of Uruguay and Ghana have brushed aside conspiracy theories claiming English referee Howard Webb was replaced as the man in charge of Friday's World Cup quarter-final because of the controversy over Frank Lampard's disallowed goal.

A Uruguayan referee team led by Jorge Larrionda was in charge of the England v Germany match when Lampard's shot clearly crossed the line but no goal was given.

FIFA on Thursday announced that Portugal official Olegario Benquerenca will take charge of the Uruguay v Ghana quarter-final and insisted there was no question - as has been rumoured - that Webb, who has not been given a last-eight match, had originally been earmarked for the match.

Uruguay coach Oscar Tabarez said: "It seems every time there is a slight coincidence of any sort we start to dramatise things. We have nothing to do with refereeing - they are like a player and they can do well or do badly, we don't have any suspicions, it does not exist as far as we are concerned.

"I don't know if my players even know who the referee is. I presume the four officials we will have will be great candidates for the final."

Ghana's coach Milovan Rajevac added: "I pay no attention to who will be our referee - it's the highest level of competition and the referee will be of the highest level. After a match I never make comments about the referee so I'm not even thinking about it."