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OTTAWA, Ontario (AP) -- FIFA has issued a warning to U.S. forward Abby Wambach for comments she made about the officiating in a match against Colombia at the Women's World Cup.

During the match Monday in the knockout round, U.S. midfielders Megan Rapinoe and Lauren Holiday were issued yellow cards. Because both had yellows from previous matches at the tournament, both will have to sit out Friday night's quarterfinal match against China.

Wambach was asked whether the yellow cards were deserved. She said: ``I don't know if they were yellows. It seemed like she (the referee) was purposefully giving those yellows to maybe players that she knew were sitting on yellows. I don't know if that was just a psychological thing, who knows. Who knows?''

She apologized for the comments the next day. FIFA said in a statement that the apology factored into the decision.

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