 Zidane removes his France armband for the final time |
The fourth official who told referee Horacio Elizondo to send off Zinedine Zidane during the World Cup final says he saw the incident as it happened. Luis Medina Cantalejo did not rely on video evidence after France's Zidane headbutted Italy's Marco Materazzi.
Cantalejo told Spanish radio: "I saw it happen live, I didn't invent anything.
"The ball was elsewhere and that was where the referee was looking. I always tell my fourth official to watch the players because things can happen."
France coach Raymond Domenech said after the game the sending off had been provoked by television replays.
Domenech was seen to sarcastically applaud Cantalejo as Zidane left the field having received the red card.
But Cantalejo said: "I respect his opinion but that is not what happened.
"This incident shows how important the fourth official is. My job is to help the referee and that is exactly what I did.
"I don't know what Materazzi said to Zidane but there were protests about the action and Gianluigi Buffon went to talk to the linesman.
"When everything calmed down I told Elizondo what had happened."
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