Carlos Eugenio Simon: Referee or scoundrel

June 7th, 2010 | by: SoccerLimey | View Comments

As we move closer to Saturday’s contest between England and the USA in their opening Group C match in Rustenburg, South Africa, the world’s media are in a feeding frenzy trying to dig up as much news as possible to fill their daily reporting quotas. One of the stories that was unearthed this past day or so was the potential controversy surrounding the Brazilian referee, Carlos Eugenio Simon.

Apparently, he has a bit of a checkered past back in his homeland over the past couple of seasons and some reports suggest that the accusations against him have used some pretty colorful language. The terms “crook”, “scoundrel”, and even “shameless bastard” have been directed at him by some pretty high ranking officials within the Brazilian game. It all started about 18 months ago when Simon, 44, sent off Flemengo’s striker Diego Tardelli for diving in a crucial game against fierce rivals Cruzeiro. The Flamengo club became so irate that they a DVD to FIFA General Secretary Jerome Valcke campaigning for Simon’s removal from the FIFA Referees List. Now there’s a case of the blind leading the blind. In a second incident, last October, Simon disallowed a Palmeiras goal scored by Obina leading to Fluminense running out 1-0 winners, which forced Brazilian authorities to ban him from the final month of the season. Palmeiras President Luiz Gonzaga Belluzzo then issued a vicious tirade describing Simon as a “a crook, a scoundrel … just a shameless bastard”. He went on “He must be in someone’s pocket. If I met him in the street, I would slap him. What he did was unbelievable and he was helping Fluminense. He should be driven out of football.” Strong words indeed.

Simon is a veteran of two World Cups and also refereed England’s Group game against Sweden in 2002 and I’m sure everyone is hoping that these incidents do not overshadow what promises to be a fascinating encounter on Saturday.

My own feeling is that similar to all to referees, there are good games and bad games, and you also have to temper these accusations with the fact that Simon referees in South America where passions run high, especially towards officials who don’t fall for the usual box of tricks. Diving and simulation are an integral part of the game down there, and this poor sap probably didn’t fall for any of it and was consequently vilified for his efforts. Neither England or the USA have a record of “diving” so I’m sure that he will allow the game to flow, much to the disappointment of the media it seems.

We should be thankful. We could be stuck with Martin Hansson !