CHIBA, Japan (AP) - If players fake fouls or injury at the World Cup finals, referees will come down hard on them. But if the referees get it wrong, they too will be in the spotlight.

For the first time at this event, FIFA can overturn the suspension handed automatically to any player sent off during a match. "In the past, any player who received two yellow cards or a red card during the game would be suspended for at least one game," Edgardo Codesil Mendez, a member of the FIFA Referees Committee, said Thursday. "Now, if it is a real mistake that the referee sent a player off, the disciplinary committee can decide not to suspend that player,"

Officials speaking in their training camp near Tokyo said they were not too worried about a move away from the maxim that the referee's decision is final.

"If we have made a clear mistake - not if a couple of people think it may have been a bit harsh - then a suspension would compound that error," said English referee Graham Poll.

U.S. official Brian Hall said referees' errors are more likely to be found out than in the past.

"There are 23 cameras covering the games, from 23 angles," Hall said. "It's a big challenge for referees because we've got one second and one angle of vision to make the decision."

Referees have been told to crack down on "simulation" - where players fall to the ground pretending to have been fouled or feign injury in order to draw a penalty or saddle an opponent with a red or yellow card.

"We cannot continue to have such behaviour in the field, not only toward the referees but also toward the opponents, because it isn't fair to win a mach only because of diving, or a penalty brought by simulation," said Pierluigi Collina, the Italian appointed for the potentially fraught match between England and Argentina on June 7. Winnipeg assistant referee Hector Vergara has also been assigned that game.

The Canadian will also serve as assistant refereee for the Italy-Ecuador game in June 3.

The referees have been shown videos to help them identify faking, although they admit that the videos also have been seen by players trying to find new ways to outsmart the officials.

"If teams show these videos to the players, there's nothing we can do about it," Poll said. "I know that prevention is better than cure, but this is all we can do. We have tried to crack down on it as best we can."

Thirty-six referees and the same number of assistant referees are taking part in the tournament. Each referee has been assigned one match in the first round, while assistants have two. Officials for the other 12 first-round matches will be appointed later.

When the first-round matches finish on June 14, the FIFA Referees Committee will make a decision on which officials should stay - only 12 referees and 12 assistants will make the cut.

The referees are playing down speculation over who will officiate the prestigious final matches of the tournament.

Collina, considered by many to be the best referee in the world,- said he was taking one game at a time.

"We have a long way to the final. I think it's enough to think about England-Argentina for the moment," he said.

Collina declined to say whether he would prefer to officiate at the final, or see Italy make the final - which would rule him out. Senegalese referee Falla Ndoye was less reticent.

"My dream is to see Senegal win the Cup. I think we can do it," he said.