FA Stasi

57Deluxe

It really bugs me that in a game where people can lose their jobs on the poor decisions of incompetent and often arrogant officials, that the slightest comment spoken out against anything, results in bans and fines at will. Is totally undemocratic and unjust.

I am not a Arsenal fan, but it bugs me when anyone gets hauled in by the FA Stasi...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/42542576

munckee

There's a weird disparity in that referees get constantly hounded on the pitch by players whenever big decisions are given or not given and the FA do nothing.  Manager says "it was a bad decision" and gets penalised immediately.

The FA always strike me as a horrible organisation where there is no control of who gets the roles and they are incredibly thin skinned and cannot tolerate criticism. 

Ravenous

You make a good point, but if you think the FA are bad look at FIFA.

Guitar_Slinger

They're quite lenient IMHO.  I'd love to be able to kick some of the people I work with and only get a yellow card. Or worst case scenario, a straight red, meaning get the rest of the day off and the next two days as well. 

TheBigDipper

The first rule of any organisation is to protect itself. Hence what we're discussing.

I'd love to see technology used (like rugby) to review situations and get more decisions right during the game. Marginal offsides by goal scorers that don't get flagged or onsides flagged as offside. Dives that get penalties and missed fouls that should have been penalties. That includes the video ref telling the on-the-field ref that they have footage clearly showing a violent assualt off the ball. I'd love to see players booked and sent off for arguing with or insulting the officials. 

I'd also like to see the clock stopped when the ball goes dead - to remove time wasting. Apparently the average time the ball is live during a 90 minute game is only 55 mins...  

Garthy

Spitting should also mean the player has to play for the rest of the season with a dental lip retractor on.

Play acting that you're hurt should equal getting shot by a sniper with a rubber bullet to the affected area.

Legionreturns

I want players automatically booked for doing that horrible finger wag thing at a referee. So fucking condescending. 

Legionreturns

However, there's also a massive disparity on the pitch. When you've got a guy in charge who earns in a year less than most premier league players earn for a single match, and regularly get penalised and dropped a division (and therefore a sizeable pay bracket), how can you expect spoilt millionaire toddlers to respect them. 

Note, this is not me making a case for increasing referees wages. It's a case for reducing you're ridiculous amounts players and managers get. Most managers at that level earn more for getting sacked than I'll earn on my own entire career. Normally more than once. 

Google said:

Match officials for semi-professional games can earn around £80 a game plus expenses. Full-time Premier League officials can earn up to £70,000 a year, while all other league referees are paid around £300 to £500 a match

sinbaadi

There's no point in this discussion turning into a debate over wages in football.  It's not like someone suddenly decided that these people should be paid so much.  The industry feeds it, the wages are a consequence of available funds for football clubs.

I'd say on the face of it £70,000 per year is very fair compensation for a full time premier league referee, but it's where they get these referees from that I have issue with.  To me they need to look to professional and semi-professional footballers in the twilight of their careers and offer them the chance to stay in the game, and I think £70k would not be a sufficient incentive, it's also a long long way off US sports salaries with shorter seasons!

Average Official Salaries Across 4 Leagues
Sport	Average Salary
NFL Official	$188,322
NHL Official	$212,500
MLB Official	$235,000
NBA Official	$375,000

Maybe something the FA need to reconsider.  If they want officials to be taken seriously, perhaps they should take officiating seriously.