A British inventor, Philip Perseval, has come up with an enterprising idea for showing up footballers who tug at their opponent's shirt or shorts: a piece of the garment comes off in the offender's hand, giving the referee proof of guilt.

The clothing is held together by weak seams or feeble fasteners, which stay intact during normal play but rip apart when they are yanked, the British weekly New Scientist reports in the current issue.