FA are bent

[bluej]

REFEREES chief Mike Riley has lept to the defence of Mark Clattenberg over the Wayne Rooney elbow fiasco.
Manchester United star Rooney clearly made contact with James McCarthy's head in the 4-0 win over Wigan.

But he has escaped punishment because Clattenberg told the FA he felt he had dealt with the incident during the match.

Riley, general manager of Professional Game Match Officials, said: "Mark took the correct course of action with this incident.

"Match officials are trained to prioritise following the ball, as that's where the greater majority of incidents are going to take place.

"However, we also do a lot of work around the area of peripheral vision to be aware of anything that might potentially happen off-the-ball.

"In this incident Mark was following play but caught sight of two players coming together and he awarded a free kick because he believed one player had impeded the other.

"[highlight]We should be clear that Mark did nothing wrong in officiating this incident as he acted on what he saw on the pitch.[/highlight]"

That's all good and well at the time of the incident, but surely on reflection of looking at it again he can only see an elbow smash?

[Nickyboy]

We should make a complaint to the FA due to double standards (ie Ade last season).

I thought that they should have just slapped the 3 man ban on him and then closed the matter - instead it will just rumble on now

[Fesan]

This article makes me even more angry...
http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528, ... 07,00.html

Head of ref's or whatever defending Clattenburg.


The wrongness of his actions is not "being super-human and having 360 vision" but reporting that he saw the ENTIRE incident and dealt with it.

If it is as Riley says and he saw two people come together in his peripheral vision he did NOT see the entire incident as it was a deliberate violent act by one player and not a coming together.

Had he reported that he saw a coming together but after reviewing it from video footage after the game he realises he did not see the sevarity of it he would have done the right thing.

Case and point from the Adebayor/RVP incident this fall, ref. saw the incident but after seeing video footage realised he had not seen it all and thus 3 match ban. Clattenburg is either corrupt or an idiot, if the FA does nothing regarding his performance I can only assume they are corrupt or biased aswell.

*edit*

Apparently Clatt commented to Martinez at halftime that he saw the incident but felt that Rooney just "clipped" him and therefore it was not a card... Just like Ade "clipped" RVP's face with his boot or?

[Goataldo]

Clattenburg is as corrupt as they come.

The FA are as bent as a bag of stolen bananas.

No alarms and no surprises.

[craigmcfc]

Clattenburg is as corrupt as they come.

The FA are as bent as a bag of stolen bananas.

No alarms and no surprises.

Exactly. Scandalous decision from the FA

[Blue Since 76]

either he didn't see it, which would be acceptable since it was off the ball, or he did and is
a) incompetent, as that was the most blatant red card you'll see
b) corrupt

[Green & Blue]

I'm not even surprised by it to be honest, it's become the norm now.

[zuricity]

I know many thought sky / talksport / BBC were over the top, creaming their pants with rooney's derby goal. However , they are going on about the awful elbow incident as well. That the fa might do nothing is one thing. He is , however being got at by the media.

[Dameerto]

The player should press charges.

[Green & Blue]

The player should press charges.

That would be brilliant.

[Original Dub]

I know many thought sky / talksport / BBC were over the top, creaming their pants with rooney's derby goal. However , they are going on about the awful elbow incident as well. That the fa might do nothing is one thing. He is , however being got at by the media.

That makes no difference at all. Their title hopes have been lifted and that is the only reason Rooney's not getting banned. Everything else they said is just total bollox.

[wyted]

This is one of the first time's I've actually felt compelled to complain to the FA, even though I know it will make no difference what-so-ever!

The FA harp on about respect, where is theirs? To quote the FA, "Respect is the collective responsibility of everyone involved in football to create a fair, safe and enjoyable environment in which the game can take place." Talk about undermining the whole campaign in one foul swoop. How about honoring your own campaign and making it SAFE for Wigan players who have the RIGHT not to be assaulted whilst at work? How about making the game fair for both teams involved? How about making it enjoyable for the mass support and not just those who follow the team in the lead???

The more I think about it, the more wound up I get. I think I will have to complain just to put my own mind at peace.

[david yearsley]

REFEREES chief Mike Riley has lept to the defence of Mark Clattenberg over the Wayne Rooney elbow fiasco.
Manchester United star Rooney clearly made contact with James McCarthy's head in the 4-0 win over Wigan.

But he has escaped punishment because Clattenberg told the FA he felt he had dealt with the incident during the match.

Riley, general manager of Professional Game Match Officials, said: "Mark took the correct course of action with this incident.

"Match officials are trained to prioritise following the ball, as that's where the greater majority of incidents are going to take place.

"However, we also do a lot of work around the area of peripheral vision to be aware of anything that might potentially happen off-the-ball.

"In this incident Mark was following play but caught sight of two players coming together and he awarded a free kick because he believed one player had impeded the other.

"[highlight]We should be clear that Mark did nothing wrong in officiating this incident as he acted on what he saw on the pitch.[/highlight]"

That's all good and well at the time of the incident, but surely on reflection of looking at it again he can only see an elbow smash?

It´s nothing short of a scandalous abdication of responsibility on behalf of the so called refs "chief" Hang your head in shame Riley - really , honestly , you should

[Michael Brookes]

shocking.. well actually no, but I do hope he scores 4 tonight and goes some way to crushing chelsea top 4 challenge

[Avalon]

I am getting fed up with this as well. It is ridiculous to say: "x took action, we cannot take action." We're all humans, we all make mistakes. We can't see everything and thus we need to be able to take action retrospectively. Whether, or not the ref saw the elbow, or whether, or not he took action, the FA in this case HAS to take action to make sure Rooney is punished for his actions. It happened to Adebayor, it should happen to Rooney.

I know we always say the FA are corrupt (which they are), but in any sitation the FA should respond to this. On top of that, they should stop with their protection of the refs. They're humans, they make mistakes (or cheat). The FA should be able to decide, right, you fucked it up, that's wages/x match ban/ x match ryman league, or some other punishment, if the mistake/negligence is warrants it.

If the refs are being kept on their toes, maybe they'll improve their sharpness. I really feel the refs simply don't care. Who wants to be a ref, after all. However, if the FA starts giving bonuses to good decisions and penalties to bad decisions, maybe they'll learn to pay attention.

It doesn't take away the corruption, but I'd like to think that it, at least, brings more quality to refereeing.

[Avalon]

Also, I think this is a great video. He gets my vote:

http://video.msn.com/?mkt=en-us&from=sp ... :permalink

[WestGorton]

The whole of football is scared of Ferguson. The BBC won't take him on, the referees (Clattenberg, 7 minutes injury time, Spurs over the line goal and Gomes shambles etc etc etc.), the journalists won't rock the boat.

I believe he exhibits genuine psychopathic traits that implore people to submit and do what he wishes. These traits are in many bullies and have wreaked havoc through history. After all these years it is so obvious that he has undermined fair play. It is why their success is hollow in comparison to the Busby era.

[john68]

The whole of football is scared of Ferguson. The BBC won't take him on, the referees (Clattenberg, 7 minutes injury time, Spurs over the line goal and Gomes shambles etc etc etc.), the journalists won't rock the boat.

I believe he exhibits genuine psychopathic traits that implore people to submit and do what he wishes. These traits are in many bullies and have wreaked havoc through history. After all these years it is so obvious that he has undermined fair play. It is why their success is hollow in comparison to the Busby era.

When will you begin to understand that they are not afraid of the rags...It is about profile and profit. The FA and the prem are corporate bodies. Their aim is to maximise profile and profit. Bent or otherwise, the rags are their biggest global asset. Why would they want to harm the club that has the biggest global profile and brings in the most profit for them?

It really is as simple as that.

[WestGorton]

The whole of football is scared of Ferguson. The BBC won't take him on, the referees (Clattenberg, 7 minutes injury time, Spurs over the line goal and Gomes shambles etc etc etc.), the journalists won't rock the boat.

I believe he exhibits genuine psychopathic traits that implore people to submit and do what he wishes. These traits are in many bullies and have wreaked havoc through history. After all these years it is so obvious that he has undermined fair play. It is why their success is hollow in comparison to the Busby era.

When will you begin to understand that they are not afraid of the rags...It is about profile and profit. The FA and the prem are corporate bodies. Their aim is to maximise profile and profit. Bent or otherwise, the rags are their biggest global asset. Why would they want to harm the club that has the biggest global profile and brings in the most profit for them?

It really is as simple as that.

I agree. Undoubtedly an issue...but "when will you begin to understand," to use your phrase book, the power certain individuals can wield. Why do we get despot leaders for example. There is no doubt they are afraid of him. No doubt at all. Just look at the body language of most opposing managers. Submissive and fawning all over him.

[Chinners]

If the powers that be were not affraid of upsetting Baconface then they would have long ago upheld their own rules on doing interviews with the BBC .... it was mooted that he was to be fined £25k, which strangly enough has yet to be paid. Baconlickers the lot of em'