Since I do not follow international soccer very closely, I dont have anything to compare this world cup with. So I want the opinion of some people who do follow it closely. There have been a record number of yellow and red cards already and there are more than 10 matches left! The games I have watched, it appeared that many of the fouls did not warrant yellow cards, and many red cards were unwarranted as well.

So, is this record amount of fouls due to increased illegal physical play over past world cups, or is it due to poor officiating?

My opinion is that the officiating has been poor, but I have been told that all the fouls I have complained about were warranted....

What do others think?

I really think it is a shame when a great match ends 1 to nothing because an official calls a foul on a player in the box, when the replay clearly shows that the guy tripped over his own foot, for example. I personally would rather the officials let them play more, with only obvious and purposeful fouls called.

Has there been a rash of injuries or something recently that has made the need for closer officiating? I dont want to see people get hurt, but it seems like a lot of player really fake how injured they are, and roll around hoping to get a foul call! And quite often, the officials give it to them!

I would also like to see a rules change, so that t6here could be different levels of red card infractions. Since for me, I think a person who gets two yellow cards doesnt deserve the same punishment as someone who purposely elbows a guy in the face and knocks him out of the tournament. Maybe something like two yellow cards and you are out for the rest of the game. And red card fouls ranging from minor, to major, where you can be excused from anywhere to one extra game to out of the rest of the tournament. Has this type of punishment ever been discussed?