State of Refereeing

Much has been made of the state of refereeing in soccer over the past few years, particularly at the 2010 World Cup (a disgrace -- including among many horrific decisions the disallowed American and British goals in qualifying and the knockout stage, respectively). Ghost red cards have been handed out aplenty in the premier league this year, some questionable decisions in the Champions League last year (including the red card for Van Persie in the second leg against Barca) and a bizarre disallowed goal in the AC Milan game last weekend all hint at the problem. An interesting analysis by a blogger of the entire EPL season last season showed that Arsenal would have finished comfortably in second if not for several games decided by bad decisions (see my post from a few months back). Among those who often seem to rule against Arsenal is Mike Dean, one of the worst officials in the entire Premier League. And a video post seems to show him actually celebrating the first Tottenham goal on Sunday: 101 Great Goals. This is beyond disgusting and should lead to sanctions by the FA. One hopes something is done to improve this situation including goal line technology, more communication among all the officials involved in the game and the demotion of the worst officials.