World Cup 2010: controversial Carlos Simon to referee England v USA group match

England's opening World Cup game against USA on Saturday will be refereed by Carlos Simon, a Brazilian official who has caused controversy with some of his decisions in his homeland where Flamengo even reported him to Fifa for one "unambiguously inconsistent, unfair and inequitable performance''.

Seeing red: controversial Brazilian referee Carlos Simon (right) issues a red card to Swedish defender Teddy Lucic during the 2006 World Cup in Germany

Flamengo also questioned Fifa's logic of considering Simon for the World Cup.

Simon refereed at the 2002 and 2006 World Cup finals and was chosen by Fifa on the strength of his displays in international matches, but his presence among the elite referees has raised concerns.

Flamengo wrote to the Fifa general secretary, Jerome Valcke, to complain about Simon's decision to send off Diego Tardelli for diving against Cruzeiro when he should have been awarded a penalty. Having lost the 2008 game and failed to qualify for the Copa Libertadores, Flamengo sent Fifa a DVD of the incident and suggested Simon should not be considered for South Africa.

In the letter written in English by Kleber Leite, the then Flamengo vice-president said: "The video evidence collected and hereby submitted – attesting the unambiguously inconsistent, unfair and inequitable technical performance of Mr Simon – provides the Fifa referees committee with a firm factual foundation that will help this governing body's analysis concerning the risks in maintaining the above-referenced Brazilian referee in the list of referees for the 2010 World Cup. This is the contribution of Flamengo for the good of the game."

Simon also failed to award a penalty to Brasiliense in the 2002 Brazilian Cup final when even Corinthians players suggested it should have been given. He was also criticised for dismissing Sweden's Teddy Lucic for two bookable offences against Germany in the 2006 World Cup.

The second caution came after German players waved imaginary cards for what they saw as a tug by Lucic on Miroslav Klose. Lukas Podolski patted Simon on the back when he brandished the second yellow.

Simon, a journalist, refereed England's draw with Sweden at the 2002 World Cup and waved away Swedish appeals for a penalty when Rio Ferdinand pushed Marcus Allback. Simon correctly ruled that the infringement occurred fractionally outside the box.