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Almost exactly one year ago, in a blog piece far far away, I was writing on the issue of refereeing inconsistencies in the A-League, and how they were hurting the image and perception of the league amongst the community. At the time, I suggested the FFA appoint a Director of Refereeing, preferably former A-League and NSL referee Mark Shield, to oversee the entire refereeing group and try to dictate a set of standards and interpretations to them. Call me Nostradamus, but we fast forward exactly one year to where that precise arrangement is in place. But the problem is, the issue of overseeing the refereeing group, dictating standards and ensuring consistency is one that is still a problem. And a significant one, at that.

It’s taken only four weeks of A-League action this year to get A-League fans of nearly every club up in arms about a particular unjust, or seemingly unjust, refereeing decision. For your quick reference, I’ve compiled … Continue Reading

One of the problems that the FFA is experiencing at the moment is one whose existence they haven’t yet acknowledged. In the Victory v Adelaide match on Friday night, it was made even more abundantly clear that this problem is not getting better, and that if anything it’s getting substantially worse week-by-week. And if it’s an issue that is frustrating for the fans, those that pay to go and watch their A-League team each week, then it must be so much more frustrating for the players themselves who are victim to a lack of it during each game, and in fact a lack of it over each season.

That’s right, it’s refereeing consistency. Or more to the point, a severe lack of it.

The Victory v Adelaide game on Friday night was, as I already stated, a clear signpost as to the existence of this issue. Ben Williams, who has proved himself in the past as a … Continue Reading

There has been a substantial amount of controversy surrounding the standard of refereeing in the A-League this season. Red cards given that are later overturned by a less-than-reassuring match review panel, baffling free kick decisions, a lack of any consistency, players being booked for diving when they haven’t dived, not being booked when they have, penalties not given when they should be, or given when they shouldn’t – the list does tend to go on a bit. Beyond that, the less than impressive A-League officiating debuts for Chris Boyle and Kurt Ams did nothing but make an existing issue even more noticeable to both the hardened A-League fanatic as well as the casual observer. However, regardless of all that, there is an indiscretion in refereeing this season that, in my opinion, is far more important.

Firstly, let’s look at some refereeing data for this season (up to and including Week 6 fixtures). The table below represents the … Continue Reading