Originally Posted by
sinkov
Just why football, which must be the simplest game on the planet, is consistently the worst officiated on the planet is a mystery to me, but it continues to be the case. There is a referee and a linesman, both close to the action, a row of officials in front of a row of video
screens, but none of them see a succession of England players manhandled to the ground at corner after corner. I could see it, you could see it, I'm sure fans in the ground could see it, the commentators could see it, the studio muppets could see it, but none of the officials did ? I don't believe it, one or more of them must have seen it, but decided to ignore it. But why do they ignore it ? Why are they on the side of the cheats ? It was the same with the Tunisian time wasting in the second half, standing in front of free-kicks so they couldn't be taken, the referee could see it, he must have known what they were doing and why, but he totally ignored it. Why, just what is going on in their heads ? Why are they on the side of the cheats and timewasters ?
I've said it before, and last night was just more evidence, the problem in the game is not the players, it's the officials, the players will try to get away with as much as they can, as much as the officials will allow, and until they get a grip of the cheats games will continue to be mired in controversy and ruined.
The big mystery to me is why they don't, before every corner the refs see the wrestling in the box and go over to have a word, it's boring and pointless and just wastes time, but as soon as the corner comes in they apparently don't see the wrestling, none of it, they miss it all. Why not do it the other way round, ignore all the wrestling before the kick is taken, but penalise the first offence as soon as the ball is live. That would eradicate the problem within a couple of games, but the last ref that tried it in England, Mike Dean, nearly got hounded out of the game instead of being supported, it's all a mystery to me.