A Refereeing Nightmare

I like most football fans sat down to watch the English Premier league match of the weekend, Saturday lunch time saw Chelsea play host’s to London rivals Arsenal and this game had all the ingredients for a superb afternoon of football. It was Arsene Wenger’s 1000th game as Arsenal Manager and his side needed to win to keep the pressure on their rivals who are at the top of the table. The man in charge of the teams was referee Andre Mariner. Little we're we all to know at kick off what was to unfold over the next ninety minutes. A refereeing decision that I have never seen and hope never to see again, threw the whole game into turmoil after fifteen minutes. Let me below try and shed some light on the whole situation and maybe suggest a way forward so as to never have to witness a refereeing blunder of this magnitude again.

When Alex Oxlade Chamberlain handled the ball, in my opinion the referee did not actually see it. I feel someone whispered in his ear to let him know. I am thinking it was the fourth official or the assistant referee on the dug outs side, as both of them would have been looking in from an angle that would have had the best view. A lot of people said that the Arsenal player did not stop an obvious goal scoring opportunity and therefore should not have received a red card. Well that argument is total nonsense as Chamberlain did not know where he was standing, and with his dive, he was obviously trying to stop a goal been scored. In my opinion the officials got the penalty 100% correct and yes also the red card. What happened next was just mental. How Andre could single out Gibbs and send him off, beggars belief. When Andre sent off Gibbs, it enforced in my mind that the referee was been prompted by a second party as to what to do, and the second party got it totally wrong.

So where do we go from here to make sure it never happens again. Well in my opinion it is time for the premier league to introduce officials behind the goal. This would have been a perfect solution on Saturday as the guy behind the goal would have been nearest to the incident and I am sure he would have given the referee the correct information to send off the right player. I do not want to see TV technology introduced as this could be a disaster further down the road. I actually heard Henry Winter on radio today at lunchtime saying it was time to embrace technology, but this road is not one I would like to go down. I also heard this evening that Andre Mariner will be refereeing this week in the premier league, which strengthens my case that it was not him that made the error in sending off Gibbs but the official who was in his ear. All in all it was a disaster and no referee should ever have to go through that again. I really do feel from the start of next season the extra officials should be used. It would save an awful lot of heartache for players, managers and especially referees. Until next week enjoy your football.