Clattenburg in the spotlight
Finally, FIFA have acted with a piece of legislation which will drag football into the modern age. Tennis has it, rugby has it, even flipping cricket has it, and now football will FINALLY feel the benefit of… A ban on snoods. Ah. That’ll improve things.
World football’s governing body’s stoic refusal to introduce technology into football isn’t just unfair on the players or fans, it’s terribly unfair on referees. Making the men in the middle’s judgement immutable just invites more critical analysis of an already highly pressurised profession. The absence of retrospective action if a referee thinks he has ‘dealt with’ an incident (Mark Clattenberg’s recent ‘appropriate action’ for Wayne Rooney’s wayward elbow being little more than a smile and an arm round the shoulder) only serves to exacerbate the situation and exasperate those who lose out.
That said, the inconsistency across the board from referees this season has occasionally been astonishing. The below examples are purely from an Arsenal perspective.
1. Andrei Arshavin’s goal against Sunderland this weekend was ruled out for offside:
Arshavin’s ‘goal’ vs Sunderland (with thanks to Arsenalist.com)
But Louis Saha’s for Everton on the same ground was allowed to stand:
2. This challenge from Bolton’s Paul Robinson was not deemed worthy of a free-kick:
But this from Diaby later in the season against Newcastle earned him a red card:
While this stamp from Lee Bowyer on Bakary Sagna went unpunished by the referee at the time:
3. Charles N’Zogbia won a penalty for Wigan Athletic after taking a tumble here:
N’Zogbia wins penalty vs Arsenal
Andrei Arshavin has less luck against Sunderland this weekend, despite Titus Bramble’s challenge:
Arshavin doesn’t win a penalty vs Sunderland (with thanks to Arsenalist.com)
The list of the above is only slightly facetious. Clearly Arsenal will have been on the lucky side of refereeing mistakes themselves this season – the dreadful offside call early in the League Cup final immediately springs to mind, as well as a few soft penalties won by Marouane Chamakh in the opening weeks of the season. But that old adage of ‘it all evens itself out over the season’ wouldn’t have to be accepted as consolation if those at FIFA would put their balls where their mouths are and help relieve the pressure on referees as much as they can. The Wayne Rooney incident only served to push Mark Clattenburg further into the spotlight. Whether he minds or not is, naturally, another argument altogether, but the important thing for football is that referees are able to do their job properly. Snood or no snood.
