English referee Graham Poll will learn his World Cup fate today following his blunder in handing three yellow cards to the same player during Thursday's Croatia-Australia match.

Poll booked Croatia defender Josip Simunic three times, after 62 minutes, 90 minutes and in the 93rd minute - the third minute of stoppage time - when he finally sent him off in the Group F match in Stuttgart.

FIFA president Sepp Blatter told reporters yesterday: "I place my trust in the referee's committee who will meet very soon to make an assessment on his performance. I hope they will show the tact in their handling that this matter deserves.

"I cannot understand how the four people in the team refereeing the match, the referee, the assistants and the fourth official, could have allowed this to happen.

"It is like they had a blackout," he told a media briefing.

"There were four people there, an evident error had been made. Someone should have said 'stop, stop, something is wrong here'.

"That's why they have the communication system. The assistants and the fourth official have the right to call on the referee and tell him. It is not understandable how this happened."

Poll's linesmen were Philip Sharp and Glenn Turner of England while the fourth official was Kevin Stott of the United States.

FIFA were spared a logistical nightmare because the match ended in a 2-2 draw and Australia qualified for the next round with the Croatians being eliminated.

If Australia had lost the match, they would have had every right to protest the result. FIFA would then have been duty bound to replay Thursday's match.