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| United we stand: I suspect this is a dodgy picture |
A REFFING DISGRACE. There is no other way to describe a
weekend of enthralling – but highly controversial – action in the English
Premier Division.
In two days of screaming injustice, the so-called greatest
football league in the world contrived to produce THREE questionable results
thanks to the whistle-while-you-work brigade.
At Arsenal, Mikel Arteta’s scrambled winner over QPR was
shown to be off-side when the Spaniard hit the bar with a header before ramming
the ball over the line on the rebound.
At Everton, Liverpool were denied a clear last-minute Merseyside
Derby winner when the unloved Luiz Suarez was robbed of a last-minute hat-trick
and a 3-2 win.
And most infamously of all, there were two incidents at
Stamford Bridge which suggest the top-of-the-table clash between Chelsea and
Manchester United was radically altered by a man in black called Mark
Clattenburg.
This morning Clattenburg, the man chosen to referee the
Olympic final between Brazil and Mexico at Wembley a month ago, stands accused
of abusing two Chelsea players, one of them racially.
Before that the 37-year-old from Newcastle had sent off two
Chelsea players with the match evenly balanced at 2-2, the Blues staging a
remarkable comeback after United had taken an early 2-0 lead.
The first sending off of Branislav Ivanovic was fair enough
but the second – a second yellow for Fernando Torres “simulating” after being clearly
fouled by Johnny Evans – was simply ridiculous. And though the referee can always
blame his assistant, Javier Hernandez’s winner was certainly off-side too.
Remember, Clattenburg is the guy who was told he would never
referee again in January 2009 after “breaching his contract” and sending threatening
emails to business associates over debts
of £175,000 (R2million).
A few months later Clattenburg was at it again, sending off
Craig Bellamy and telling the Manchester City bench at Bolton: “How do you work
with him all week?”
In 2010, Clattenburg was the referee who controversially
allowed Manchester United’s Portuguese star Nani to score when Tottenham
goalkeeper Heurelho Gomes had placed the ball for a “ghost” free-kick.
Now Chelsea are claiming Clattenburg called Juan Mata,
scorer of a wonderful free-kick on Sunday, “a Spanish twat” when he was
cautioned in the 76th minute.
Chief executive Ron Gourlay, with Mikel and manager Roberto
Di Matteo, demanded an apology after the game but Clattenburg refused and
Chelsea released a statement yesterday saying: “We have lodged a complaint with
regards to inappropriate language used by the referee and directed at two of
our players in two separate incidents.”
For all Clattenburg’s past we can make no real allegations
of bribery or match-fixing. As Sir Alex Ferguson said afterwards: “The boy was
touched and he made a meal of it. He could have carried on and scored. But the
winner was off-side, we had a bit of luck there.”
With previously unbeaten Chelsea boss Roberto di Matteo
complaining “all the decisions went United’s way”, the usual accusations
against United began. Are they justified? Well, yes, if you consider how many
penalties and red cards go the way of the ageless old Scotsman Ferguson.
It’s not corruption, it’s just the Fergie way. Officiate
poorly in Sir Alex’s eyes and you’ll never referee a big game again – and you
can expect a dressing-room visit not to mention a satanic choir of complaing
Red Devils.
Referees like Howard Webb have long been accused of being on
a United contract, but the truth is they are just scared to offend the
70-year-old who has been in charge for 26 highly-successful years.
What the weekend’s injustices demand is not an investigation
in to United but a review system for football. Both codes of rugby, all forms
of cricket and Grand Slam tennis use various replay systems, and as I
suggested
on eNews yesterday, football has to follow suit.
Give the referee a 30-second time-out to ask the television
official if an incident is as it looked, let him make
a considered decision
with replay evidence. Most top-flight matches go in to six or seven minutes of
added time anyway, surely the game has time for a quick break to avoid
catastrophic refereeing errors?
If FIFA and the FA continue to ignore such demands, the
questions around United will never be answered.
Its sad to think with all the technology allowed in other sports, Footie is still refusing to move with the times. My team ( The Blues), was a clear victim of Ferggie-ism. Ferggiologist will deny the power their leader has in the FA. Ah well...lets carry blues!
ReplyDeleteHave you seen the video? For all his other sins, Clattenburg clearly does not say what he is alleged to have said. It seems to me that it's the opposite of what you suggest - the powers that be at Chelsea are sending a warning to other referees that if you mess with them, your career will be ended by allegations. Even though he'll be proven innocent, it's already too late - he'll never referee again. It's particularly galling that Chelsea, the team whose captain is demonstrably a racist, is jeopardising a man's career with false allegations.
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