Fifa says video replays played no part in France captain Zinedine Zidane's dismissal in Sunday's World Cup final.
Zidane was sent off for a headbutt on Italy's Marco Materazzi, which was missed by referee Horacio Elizondo.
Elizondo was advised by his fourth official but France coach Raymond Domenech alleged he had only acted after seeing a video replay.
"This was definitely not video evidence," Fifa spokesman Andreas Herren told BBC Five Live.
"I spoke with the senior person responsible for refereeing in the Fifa administration.
"He clearly told me the fourth official had seen the incident involving Zidane and had advised the referee through the headset.
"The fourth official saw it as it happened on the pitch and directly advised the referee and the referee took action. Full stop.
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"It appears the referee was waiting for the situation to clear up a little bit before taking action."
Former Premiership referee Paul Durkin believes the officials made the right decision regardless of whether or not TV replays were used.
He said: "However the decision was got, it was the correct one and had France won the World Cup on another goal from Zidane after he'd committed that offence it would have been an injustice."
Fifa said although the fifth official does have a TV monitor, he is not permitted to intervene and the fourth official has no access to video replays.
Zidane, who was named the winner of the Golden Ball award by Fifa for the best player in the competition, announced before the World Cup that he was quitting football when France's involvement in the tournament came to an end.
It was a disappointing end to a glittering career for the Real Madrid star, who was dismissed in the 110th minute of the game, which Italy won 5-3 on penalties.
Herren said Fifa would decide whether Zidane will be punished for his vicious headbutt on Materazzi.
"It is up to the disciplinary committee to decide what kind of sanction that would be," he added.