Fifa ignores Zidane head-butt

London: Maybe Zinedine Zidane's head-butt in the World Cup final never happened after all.

The unforgettable moment in soccer's biggest match came when the France captain, in his final game before retiring, reacted to something Marco Materazzi said by planting his head firmly into the Italian's chest.

Because the ball was further down the field, few among the 69,000 fans in Berlin's Olympic Stadium saw the incident and were amazed when Zidane was sent off.

Fifa, it seems, didn't see it at all. There's certainly no mention of the incident in soccer body's official World Cup 2006 technical report.

Even the outline of the final makes no mention of it.

It's not even noted that Zidane was ejected in the final match of his career! Even in retirement, Zidane was suspended for three games and fined for the outburst.

Before he considers suing Fifa, there may be reasons why governing body didn't include details of the incident in its report.

Zidane's ejection for an act of blatant violence provided a shameful end to a championship that Fifa had lauded as one of the best ever. Maybe they didn't want it to take the shine off an otherwise glowing report.

The 2006 World Cup was widely acclaimed as well organised by the Germans, despite pre-championship fears about security.