The video evidence is
clear; Manchester United striker Robin Van Persie looks over his shoulder sees
Yohan Cabaye and clearly swings an arm out in an arc which is not a natural
movement when running.
The Dutchman’s arm is raised and makes contact with his
opponent. There is no debate here, unlike when a player is jumping for the
ball. His arm, simply, should not be where it is. You cannot blame Howard Webb
for missing the incident, it happened away from the ball and at pace.
The incident was caught on the TV cameras and it has been
replayed in slow motion and zoomed in, but of course Webb cannot utilise this
technology during play. But the FA can. They can sit down on Monday and watch
this footage and if it has not been dealt with by the match referee they can
hand out the necessary misconduct charge and punishment.
But there is a clear flaw in this process. The FA asks the
referee that was in charge of the game to look at the incident and say whether
he missed a red-card offence. In this case, Webb, one of England’s best
referees who had a red card overturned the week before, has said there was not
one.
The flaw is that it should not be up to him. There should be
a disciplinary panel at the FA who decides on matters such as this without
needing to involve the referee. He has done his job when he completed the game.
You can understand the doubt that was in Webb’s mind. His
last red-card was overturned and it would be easier to say that he was not 100%
sure and therefore it would go no further. You can imagine the backlash from
managers if their players start getting misconduct charges against them 2 days
after the game!
An independent panel needs to be set-up. This should include
a former player, manager and referee who have all had experience in the game
and can review all incidents like these in a consistent and impartial manner.
On the field there is a degree of inconsistency in that one
referee’s opinion can vary from another’s. If each incident is looked at by the
same panel these inconsistencies will no longer be there.
The other incident over the weekend that should then be
looked at by the panel and that is the alleged stamp by Stoke defender Robert
Huth on Liverpool striker Luiz Suarez.
The referee Lee Mason appears to believe from the video
evidence that the incident does not suggest a clear red-card offence. I would
however ask him that if it was a Stoke player on the floor would Huth have been
able to avoid him? I think so.
One of the worst things for a referee to do is admit that he
missed something. Asking them to look at it a second time will make them feel
that they have missed something, yet the one thing they are trying to do is see
everything.
The biggest benefit of a panel is that they would not have
the same fears of being compromised as some referees do if asked to review. If
the players know it was not the referee’s choice then the incident will not follow
them every time they come across the players involved and their club.
The panel would be completely impartial, the consistency
would be there and they could also offer a solution to the current issue of
diving which has been in the headlines almost every week this season.
Detecting diving, especially at the speed the modern game is
played is almost impossible. But slowed down video replays clearly highlight
this cheating. Once this has been seen then an appropriate punishment can be
given and we might see players stop trying to deceive the referees.
But until the day
comes when the FA change their current system, referees will consistently
continue to make the headlines for incidents that they only get to see once.
Finally…
On a brighter note, what a fantastic decision by Darren Cann
in the Newcastle v Manchester United match. Cann was directly in line with the
goal line and correctly judge that the whole of the ball was not over the whole
of the line and proved why he is England’s best assistant referee.
