Soccer: Francesco Totti vindicated after send-off

Controversial referee Byron Moreno of Ecuador was wrong to send off Italian captain Francesco Totti for diving against South Korea, Fifa admitted last night.

Edgardo Codesal, a Fifa referee committee member, said TV replays proved that Moreno - been branded public enemy No 1 in Italy for expelling Totti - had blundered.

Moreno said there had been no contact with a Korean defender and that Totti had dived.

"Totti dived. I was 15m-20m away. I had a very clear view. The right decision," he insisted.

But Codesal, who refereed the 1990 World Cup final, said television had proved Moreno wrong.

nzherald.co.nz/fifaworldcup

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