The Premier League season is almost at an end and I think it has been a weird season to say the least. The two epic fails of this season are the FA and the Referee’s. Both have been diabolical in terms of decisions and the way things have been handled.
Referees have had a tough season. They have come under a lot of scrutiny for their decision making. Some of the decisions have been debatable and some have been very clear cut in being right or wrong. But the last few weeks have had some of the worst refereeing decisions I think I have ever seen.
- Fulham v United when Carrick’s shocking tackle went unseen, as did Ashley Young’s diving dramas twice, one of which was an offside.
- There was the Wigan v Chelsea game when both Chelsea goals were blatant offsides.
- Arsenal v Man Citywhen Balotelli nearly broke Song’s leg in half plus various other fouls that went ‘unnoticed’
- The other one that springs to mind is the more recent one of Spurs v Chelsea in the FA cup with that infamous ‘goal’ and whether it was across the line. (which it didn’t in my opinion)
All of these games were shaping up to be great games until these incidents happened and then it makes even the impartial viewers mad that this is allowed to happen nowadays. I know we can’t know for sure how much of an effect it has on a game but either way it is not right that this has had to carry on.
With refs making decisions like this that affect the game hugely in terms of outcome, penalties and generally faith and morale its fair to see why they have been accused of being biased and some have even said that maybe they need to be retrained. There is a referee league in place; but this only enables us to see who has been the most card happy during the season. I understand that refs are not always in the line of vision but there are 2 other linesman plus a fourth official, surely this should cover most angles of a pitch.
It seems that there only two solutions to this situation-first would be a complaints procedure and a points table for refs- a chance for managers to complain about the decisions they do not agree with and the points table would be for referee’s to be deducted or given points accordingly to their progress within the game. So if they go below a certain amount of points then they have to either referee less games or go to a lower league. Not fair you say? But it’s not fair when a team has a decision go against them either.
The other alternative is the much called for Video evidence. This is the most obvious and RIGHT solution for these problems. Whilst I think referees do have to take some responsibility for their actions and decisions I think it is time for the FA to step up and intervene and insist that Video technology is used next season. In a world where most sports use video technology it is shocking that we have not used it yet, despite calls from managers, players and fans. FIFA insist that to use video technology “the human error and continuity of the game would be lost”-I believe that this occurs anyway when you have 22 players plus managers stopping a game because they are debating/arguing with a referee over a decision.
The Premiership has the best players, some of the best managers, and undoubtedly the most drama – but it’s awfully let down by it’s governing body. Imagine Spain or Germany heading into a major tournament without a manager and captain? Referees will make mistakes, they are all human, but the FA are beyond a joke.