Poll quits international finals

Poll "deeply regrets" his mistake, and called it "inexcusable"

Graham Poll has decided to retire from international tournaments after being sent home early from the World Cup.

The Tring official's event was blighted by his high-profile blunder in Croatia's match with Australia - when he booked Josip Simunic three times.

And after Fifa confirmed he would be one of 14 referees sent home before the quarter-finals, he revealed he would not officiate in finals again.

"It's time for another English referee to have a go," he told Sky Sports.

However, Poll will continue to take charge of international qualifiers and his next game will be the Poland v Serbia game in Group A of the European Championship qualifying competition on 6 September.

The World Cup finals were Poll's third major tournament after he officiated at the 2002 World Cup and 2000 European Championship.

But he admitted his devastation after his "dream" of taking charge of a World Cup final was ended by a poor performance in the Croatia-Australia tie.

"Certainly what happened a week ago is something I deeply regret, it was inexcusable," admitted the clearly emotional 42-year-old.

"I didn't realise until after the game that, following 23 years of hard work, working up from pub level, my dream was over."