KopTalk.com Forums Football Liverpool FC Forum Officiating Standards

Following on from the City Spurs game earlier I thought I'd post about refereeing standards which have been bugging me for some time, apologies if I go into a rant on this!

Today Raheem Sterling was clean through for City whilst they were 2-1 up against Spurs, Kyle Walker clearly pushes him in the back, which knocks him off balance and he misses the chance. However because Sterling stayed on his feet the officials ignore a clear foul, penalty and red card for Walker. Within 60 seconds Spurs equalise and it's 2-2, in reality it should have been a penalty for City against 10 man Spurs. If you haven't seen the incident it's the clearest foul you'll see, its not debateable, there is absolutely no excuse for the officials to miss it.

The point here is that Sterling has been punished for being honest and staying on his feet, we all hate players who dive or go down easily but what's the point in being honest if the referees don't then give you the decision? Why not go down at the slightest hint of contact and force the referee's hand?

There have been so many bad decisions lately, affecting lots of different games and clubs. Look at Mike Dean, 5 of the last 6 red cards he's issued have been overturned and he was demoted to the Championship this weekend, the standards of officiating in this country are declining every single week.

I feel the FA need to get more involved and retrospective punishments need to be handed out more frequently, whether the referee has seen the incident or not. Walker should be given a 3 match ban for today. They also need to punish players like Ander Herrera who last week went down holding his face after being pushed in the chest, this is blatant cheating aimed at getting an opponent sent off! Also why are players allowed to harass referees and ask for opponents to be carded? Look at Man Utd against West Ham where Feghouli was sent off.

In conclusion I feel referees must be held more accountable for poor decisions they make every week, but at the same time they must be supported more by the FA in punishing players who make their lives extremely difficult, whether it's play-acting, constant moaning or whatever.

What are everyone's thoughts on refereeing in this country?

I haven't seen it but if it was that bad, the referees panel need to ask the officials for an explanation. They then need to publicly announce that the ref made a mistake and that it should have been a red card and a pen.

A couple of incidents come to mind...

... didn't a ref recently apologise to a manager after a weekend where he failed to spot a sending off or something?

... and I reacall Robbie Fowler or perhaps Gerrard being deemed to have been fouled when there had been not contact. One of them had jumped over a challenge but the referee awared a penalty nonetheless as they had been impeded. so in this case, if there was a clear push then it should have been a penalty irrespective of the fact that Sterling stayed on his feet.

Having said that, because it was Sterling maybe it was deffo never a penalty... in fact, Sterling should have been sent off and banned for life for simulatuion perhaps!

I think refs should explain their decision more after games, sometimes there is a reason for a decision, so we should be told, they should be like the managers after a game where they do a quick interview.

Everyone complains about players diving and exaggerating falls, but after that push you can see why players dive after contact to show it, Sterling was honest and stayed up, but City paid the price, most managers would go bonkers at a player for not hitting the deck after being pushed like that.

Exactly right and this is the problem, a player stays on his feet and the officials punish him for being honest. It's ridiculous and if I were Guardiola or any manager I'd be telling my players to hit the deck after any contact in the box.

It's a sad state of affairs and unfortunately officials are making their own lives harder by getting basic and obvious decisions wrong!