Berlin, July 1 :

Argentina defender Leandro Cufre faces a disciplinary panel and German players or officials could also be charged over the fracas that followed the host team’s shootout win in the World Cup quarter-finals.

FIFA communications director Markus Siegler said on Saturday that the “legal procedure will be started as is normal in the case of a red card.” At least one German player was injured and several players and staff were involved in a skirmish that followed Friday’s shootout at the Olympic Stadium in Berlin.

Cufre, an unused substitute who plays for AS Roma, was given a red card by referee Lubos Michel after the match. Siegler said the disciplinary panel would review the video and check to see if other people would be sanctioned.

“There is a certain urgency, mainly concerning the German team because they have a semi-final on Tuesday,” Siegler said. “They have a match to prepare for.”

FIFA president Sepp Blatter said he was “furious” at the incident, which marred a dramatic finish. “I am furious about that. Our disciplinary committee definitely will take some steps toward those who are identified as being the ‘provocateurs’ of this incident,” Blatter said in a British radio interview.

“There was really no need. After 120 minutes, football is a drama, and then you have to go to penalty kicks and then football becomes a tragedy, but one is the winner and one is the loser. What I always say is in football you learn to win, but you also have to learn to lose.” The pushing and shoving reportedly followed a verbal exchange during the shootout.

Germany team manager Oliver Bierhoff, who was in the middle of the melee, said Per Mertesacker was “struck with full force in the leg by an Argentine reserve player, he was on the ground, the players started going for each other.”

In other disciplinary news, the local organising committee said it would not investigate reports that France captain Zinedine Zidane kicked and damaged a door in Leipzig following the draw against South Korea in a group match. “Zidane said he was not involved. That’s where we’ll leave for now. We won’t be hiring a private investigator,” Germany 2006 spokesman Gerd Graus said.