FIFA remain adamant that no video replay was needed to send France captain Zinedine Zidane off in Sunday night's World Cup final defeat to Italy.

Zidane head-butted Marco Materazzi in the chest but several minutes elapsed before the referee, who didn't appear to see the incident, showed the 34-year-old a red card after consulting the fourth official.

After the game France coach Raymond Domenech claimed: "The referee saw nothing, the assistant referee saw nothing and then we have the fourth official saying to the referee what happened.

"We have video replays in football and then the fourth official tips off the referee."

However, FIFA spokesman Andreas Herren said: "The fourth referee saw the incident with his own eyes and told the referee and the assistant referee directly though their headsets."

FIFA say although the fifth official does have a TV monitor, he is not permitted to intervene, and the fourth official has no access to video replays.

The rules of the game state that video evidence is not allowed to decide key incidents during the course of the match.