The group comprising of Algerian referee Mohamed Benouza, his assistant and compatriot Maamar Chabane and Egyptian assistant Nasser Abdel Nadi collectively failed tests conducted by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) while the Paraguayan trio of referee Carlos Amarilla and his assistants Emigdio Ruiz and Nicolas Yegros will also not officiate in matches in South Africa.

FIFA confirmed that a Uruguayan trio comprising of referee Martin Vazquez Broquetas and assistants Carlos Pastorino and Miguel Nievas have been drafted in as replacements.

A statement from FIFA read: "It is one of FIFA's main objectives to significantly improve refereeing standards and, to this end, the FIFA Referees Committee has selected trios of match officials who come from the same country or confederation and who share the same language.

"Instructions issued to the referees prior to the competition made it clear that entire trios would be forced out of the competition if either the main referee or two of the assistant referees were unable to complete or pass the fitness test. The official fitness tests were conducted in each of the six confederations by FIFA instructors during the past week."