FA Cup / Paul Moon / 29 May 2009 / 1 Comments

As Howard Webb prepares to lead out the teams at Wembley, Paul Moon discusses the standard of refereeing in English football...

The general consensus is that the standard of refereeing in the Premier League shows no visible signs of improvement since the introduction of professional referees in 2001.

Salaries of between £60,000 - £100,000 represents more than fair reward for what they do. I readily accept that it takes a special type of person with strength of character to do the job well but they urgently need to redefine and improve themselves.

The PFA and FA can help kick-start this process by introducing a charter where players sign a code of conduct outlining duties and standards while making it compulsory for players to be taught the laws of the game (not as silly as it sounds). Referees should visit grounds during the week for tutorials and updates.

There are only 17 relatively simple laws in the game of football for referees to administrate and it is the interpretation of some of those laws that causes most of the concern. Obvious areas include offside, handball and penalty decisions. Nothing infuriates supporters more than the lack of consistency so let's have fewer areas open to interpretation.

Dissent and cheating remain a problem so introduce progressive penalties throughout the season. Serious incident, dangerous foul play or cheating missed by the referee should be analysed by a video panel with powers within 48 hours of the game ending. No one expects mistakes to end but debriefing should enter the public domain. Secrecy surrounding officiating should be replaced with complete transparency including appointments.

However, I remain unconvinced that the fast tracking of ex-professional footballers is the panacea for our current refereeing problems. A player will have made many friends and foes - is this helpful or a hindrance? Baggage of this sort may compromise him prior to a match or surface after. These sorts of issues could give the tabloids a huge feeding frenzy and may lead to more problems than it solves!

It takes a big stretch of the imagination to believe that ex-pros would like the job in the first place. Would their high profile and egos get in the way? We know the primary job is to facilitate the match not be the star of it! Besides, where is it written that today's footballers will respect them more? Respect is usually earned.

Unfairly, people often compare officiating in football to rugby and cricket. The pressure levels are completely different and so are the consequences of a mistake. However, referees can learn from some aspects of rugby and cricket.

Rugby Union officiating has always impressed me. Clear and precise information ring out on the pitch. If the referee does not get compliance he calls the captains together to sort it out - preferring prevention to cure.

In contrast football referees love nothing more than sprinting 30-yards to a player, posturing in front of the television cameras as they admonish a card. It should stop! It's silly, abhorrent and does nothing to benefit the game. I much prefer the rugby model.

Adjudicating in cricket, the best umpires wait for a second to digest what they have just witnessed, giving the brain time to evaluate a considered decision. Should this be Law 18?

Hopefully this will not be lost on Howard Webb who takes charge of Saturday's FA Cup Final where latest Betfair prices show: Chelsea [1.75] Everton [6] Draw [3.75]. He admitted his blunder when gifting a penalty to Manchester United far too quickly in their comeback from 2-0 down to beat Tottenham. Should he give a penalty in the final will he delay the decision for just a second - I hope he does.