Fifa World Cup: Referees to crack down on dangerous play, warns Collina

World Cup referees have been ordered to crack down on foul play in a bid to protect players from injury, Fifa referees chief Pierluigi Collina revealed on Friday.

Collina said that all 32 teams at the World Cup had been warned that match officials in Qatar have been instructed to take a hardline against any player endangering an opponent.

"The World Cup is the most important tournament on earth in our sport with the best players in the world," Collina said.

"It would be a shame if some of these players wouldn't be able to play due to an injury caused by an opponent. So the first message to our referees is to protect the players safety," the Italian added.

Collina, widely regarded as the greatest referee of all time, said Fifa refereeing officials had visited World Cup teams in Qatar to inform them of the directive.

"We don't want to have some challenges that may really endanger the safety of the player," the 62-year-old said.

"Whenever there is something that may endanger the safety of players, coaches should expect the strongest disciplinary sanction which is a red card."

Collina's warning comes four years after the total number of red cards issued at the 2018 World Cup in Russia plummeted to just four -- the lowest total at the finals since 1978.

A total of 10 red cards were shown at the 2014 finals in Brazil, 17 at the 2010 tournament in South Africa and a whopping 28 at the 2006 World Cup in Germany.

Collina used video footage to illustrate the kind of challenges referees would be on the lookout for in Qatar.

They included a wild studs-up challenge showing a player crashing into an opponent's shin, while another showed a player raising his foot dangerously high.

"It is irrelevant that the player didn't want to hit the opponent — simply by making this intervention it puts the opponent in a very, very risky position," Collina said.

Collina said the system would help speed up offside decisions.