Argentine inventor of vanishing spray slams German ban

Argentine inventor of football's vanishing spray, Pablo Silva, denied claims made by Germany calling the product "unsafe."

The canned foam, used by referees to mark the spot players should stand on the field during a free kick, does not contain harmful hormones or parabens, or too much propellant, as German product testers claim, Xinhua quoted Silva as saying in a press release Monday.

He accused the Germans of "maliciously reporting something that isn't true".

"I was surprised that following the (2014 Brazil) World Cup", where the spray was in regular use, "such a report would appear, with the intention to discredit 14 years of work and effort", Silva said.

He complained that the testing of the product "was taken very lightly", and the conclusions "disrespect the international board in charge of setting down the rules of world football, which March 3, 2012 approved its use at its annual assembly".

"I would like to think that this is due to rigorous German perfectionism and not any ulterior motives," added Silva.

According to German daily Bild, which reported on the testing, the spray contains "active hormones", in addition to lacking proper labelling in German as "inflammable".

The warning is written in both Spanish and English.

"It is false to affirm that it has 'too much (propellant) gas', since the amount used is extremely low," said Silva, adding the product has between 20 to 25 percent propellant, while the average alcohol-based deodorant has 35 percent and antiperspirant has 80 percent.

The vanishing spray was first used in 2008 by Argentina's second-division teams, then went on to be embraced by Mexico's league and finally this year's World Cup.