THE World Cup took on a startling red hue last night as FIVE players were sent-off and red-faced French legend Michel Platini took the blame.

On Tuesday, France 98 supremo Platini said referees were not enforcing the new FIFA directives strictly enough, with only four red cards shown in the first 20 games. Yesterday World Cup referees appeared to take heed as three were dismissed during South Africa's 1-1 draw with Denmark and two including French captain Zinedine Zidane saw red during the hosts' 4-0 romp against Saudi Arabia. The referees also managed to hand out 14 yellow cards in two eventful Group C clashes.

After seeing three substitutes, Miklos Molnar and Morten Wieghorst for Denmark, as well as South Africa's Alfred Phiri, dismissed in Toulouse, Celtic's Danish defender Marc Rieper fumed: There were no real bad tackles, yet we managed 10 yellow cards and three reds which is ridiculous.

"The referee lost the game totally, but a lot of that is due to Michel Platini, who came out after the first matches and said the referees have been much too weak.

"It was ridiculous for Platini to speak out because the standard of refereeing before now has been very good. It was a very stupid comment."