Referee Koman Coulibaly Could Face Expulsion From World Cup

In the wake of one of the bigger officiating controversies ever to involve U.S. Soccer, we could see a quick move made by FIFA.

While the call by referee Koman Coulibaly that took a potential game-winning goal from the United States Friday can't be overturned, he could be facing a punishment from the sport's governing body.

Yahoo! Sports is reporting, citing a FIFA source, that Coulibaly is facing an expedited review from FIFA, and it's "likely" he will be excluded from the remainder of the FIFA World Cup. (ESPN is also reporting that Coulibaly could face a FIFA probe.)

Since the outcome of the 2-2 draw between the U.S. and Slovenia isn't changing, this is probably the closest we'll ever come to FIFA admitting the major error made by Coulibaly.

The FIFA source who spoke to Yahoo! Sports said Coulibaly's mistake may be too big to overlook.

"If he is found to have made a serious mistake, especially one that affected the outcome, then he would be highly unlikely to play any further part in the tournament," said the source, who is close to senior figures on the refereeing panel. "FIFA is determined to keep refereeing standards high and does not want high-profile mistakes."

Coulibaly probably doesn't have as many problems if the only controversial call in the match was the foul -- apparently called on goal scorer Maurice Edu -- in the 86th minute that negated a goal that would have put the U.S. up 3-2. There has been speculation that the foul was on Michael Bradley for impeding a defender, but replays showed there was no such issue on the play. FIFA's official match play-by-play says the foul was on Edu. Coulibaly has not commented publicly, nor is he obligated to.

There were a number of questionable decisions, including a yellow card on U.S. forward Robbie Findley that leaves him ineligible for Wednesday's Group C finale against Algeria. Findley was carded for a handball, but the ball appeared to hit his face, and it was obvious he didn't intentionally touch it with his hand.

A yellow card on Marko Suler of Slovenia also drew the ire of the American side. Suler wrestled American forward Jozy Altidore to the ground, and the overly physical play was worthy of a red card.