Over the summer, while the FA have nothing to do due to the abject failure of the national team, they need to sit down and address the issue of respect for match officials.

Half measures are not adequate; booking and sending off players for dissent is far too ambiguous. The measures need to seriously affect the player and the club. It is easy to ascertain that fiscal punishments are inept.

The top clubs (who are the most notorious offenders) would not even flinch at having to hand over £10,000. Thus, financial penalties should be made higher, which ultimately hits the smaller clubs a hell of a lot harder. Fining teams for failing to control their players should be abolished in favour of more immediate processes.  

'For every five sin bins the club loses a point. If money will not sway attitudes, loss of a title or Premier League status will do'


The first step should be to adopt a rugby-style approach to the officials on three counts. Firstly, the well versed idea of only allowing the captain to speak to the official - unless, of course, the referee summons another player. No player may touch the official or raise their voice or arms to him at all.

Punishment for such offences lead me to my next point. If a players were to contravene these laws then they would be sin-binned for a set time of ten minutes. In the case of there being only five minutes remaining it would simply mean them sitting out the rest of the game.

If players surrounds the referee and find themselves down to eight men it is doubtful they will offend again. If a player receives a certain number of ‘sin bins’ he should be banned for an extended period. Similarly, clubs should be punished for not being able to control their players. For every five sin bins the club loses a point. If money will not sway attitudes, loss of a title or Premier League status will do.

Thirdly, it should be necessary for referees to be wired up to the sound system so that he is accountable to the crowd. Most of the anger directed towards the referee is because people do not understand why he has given such a decision. He should be able to explain the decision he has taken.

For example, although it was a European game, I’m sure the viewers would have liked to know why Arsenal were not awarded a penalty in their Champions League quarter-final first leg against Liverpool. The logic is simple; respect is earned and if referees become more accountable then players will subconsciously feel more respect.  

If the FA were to implement something like this it would be necessary to introduce it straight away at the highest level, the Premier League. The temptation to test it at a lower level might be strong in case it fails. Yet they must remember why it is being introduced in the first place - so that watching kids do not emulate their ‘heroes’ when they themselves play the game.

If they see the likes of Chelsea skipper John Terry and his Arsenal counterpart William Gallas demonstrating respect on the pitch, the trickle down effect will be immediate.

What is most imperative is that such legislation is set in stone with a zero tolerance policy. Chelsea's Ashley Cole is a poor  ambassador of the game and his occasional irrational actions could be the trigger that finally leads to action being taken. The backlash was immense to the Javier Mascherano incident at Old Trafford.

If the FA can show some backbone and back up their words with significant actions then it can only be a positive thing for the beautiful game that many believe is losing its soul.    

Sports news, Transfer rumours, Soccer news