The 41-year-old, who refereed up to the quarter-finals in the World Cup in France, yesterday accused the College of Referees and its head Jorge Romo of leaning on referees to rig games.

Calling such referees `clowns and jesters of those in power,' he demanded that referees' income be investigated and accused them of accepting free trips to the Caribbean.

He has also attacked the long-standing president of the Argentine Football Association, Julio Grondona, who snapped back this week that Castrilli had ``gone mad''.

``Why does he say I have gone mad? Because I tell the truth?'' responded Castrilli, who put his papers on Tuesday. Grondona told reporters yesterday, ``It would be a shame if Castrilli resigned. He cannot give up his career so quickly.''

Another controversial figure, Paraguayan 'keeper Jose LuisChilavert, who plays for first division Velez Sarsfield, agreed that Castrilli would be a loss.

``It would be a pity because he's a very good referee. He has given very good results. He may have made mistakes, but no one is perfect,'' Chilavert told a local radio.

But Argentine sports magazine El Grafico's last edition made no bones about its opinion of Castrilli's refereeing. `Does he think he's God?' it asked on a front cover decorated with a red card.

China strips referee: China has taken the rare move of stripping one of its football referees of his credentials for making grave errors in domestic matches. Yu Yuancong, a nationally qualified referee, has had his credentials revoked after making serious `technical errors,' the Liberation Daily said today. It also said that some referees clearly were not up to the standards of professional football and that the league would strive to maintain fair play.

Yu's downfall was linked to a league cup match this week between Dalian Wandaand Liaoning Tianrun. Dalian Wanda were angered after Yu disallowed a goal and decided not to call a penalty kick. Dalian was eliminated from the competition after it lost 7-6 on penalty goals after a 1-1 draw in regular play. The newspaper also quoted a league official criticising Dalian Wanda for `irresponsible public criticism' of the referee following the loss.