Wednesday, June 7 2006 15:15 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Munich: FIFA President Sepp Blatter on Tuesday called on World Cup referees to protect the tournament's star names and severely punish elbowing because he fears players could have teeth knocked out.

The 21 referees have been told to show a red card for intentional elbowing at the 64-match World Cup, which kicks off in Munich on Friday.

Blatter said he was concerned that elbowing was an ever greater threat.

"What has been clearly said to referees is 'please protect the physical integrity of the players', and that means protecting the big stars," Blatter said at a press conference here on Tuesday.

"You have all seen the TV coverage of a recent European game where a player lost two teeth, and had them hanging out of his mouth, because of elbowing," he said.

"Team managers will also be informed of the need to avoid this," he said.

Any 'reckless use of the arm will earn a booking.

FIFA's head of refereeing Jose-Maria Garcia Aranda has also instructed match officials to punish lunging tackles with an immediate sending-off, despite fears that the term is hard to define and could lead to disputed decisions.

Blatter said FIFA trusted the referees to make the right decisions.

"There will always be a discussion on this application.Referees are human beings and you cannot impose that they all have the same approach to the laws of the game, but we trust the referees," he said.

Argentinian referee Horacio Elizondo will be the first to put the new directives into action when he takes charge of the tournament's opening match between host nation Germany and Costa Rica.

Blatter was critical of the standard of officiating at the 2002 World Cup in South Korea and Japan and has said he would like to see the introduction of professional referees who are paid by the national federations.