Bad officiating is tarnishing the image of Premier League referees

Football is a game that is enjoyed by millions of people around the world. To some people, it like a religion, so much so that without it, they may probably not live. Watching the legendary Diego Maradona celebrate the goal that Lionel Messi scored against Nigeria in the FIFA World Cup in Russia, you could clearly see how spiritually attached to football the man is. The game that is the ultimate source of entertainment to many though, is the same game that has been marred with controversy stemming from bad refereeing and the Premier League in no different.

Adored by fans around the world, the Premier League is, unfortunately, having its name soiled by the very men who are charged with ensuring its sanity- the match officials! First of all, a referee is supposed to maintain a high level of neutrality, not favouritism, but on several occasions, they have been accused of offering the latter. During the days of Sir Alex Ferguson, according to stats compiled by The Guardian, several referees had a tendency of adding 3 or more minutes when his team were chasing a result and 2 or less when they were leading.

Referees used to fear Sir Alex Ferguson according to Graham Poll

It was also extremely hard for a referee to award a penalty against Ferguson's United at Old Trafford for fear of being attacked by the Scott. Former referee Graham Poll said:

"The difference at Old Trafford now is that referees arrive with the knowledge that Sir Alex Ferguson is no longer present; he is not waiting in the tunnel to rip into you for daring to award the opposition a penalty, nor is he going to charge into your dressing room with a 'hairdryer' on full blast, incandescent with rage at your audacity to do your job"

In a game against Arsenal that United won 2-1 at Old Trafford in 2009, referee Mike Dean failed to award a penalty to Arsenal when Darren Fletcher lunged into Andrey Arshavin. He swept him to the ground in a sliding challenge, handling the ball in the process as Arshavin was preparing to shoot. That was a clear-cut penalty, but for some reason, Mr. Dean didn't give it. Interestingly, the ref went on to award United a debatable penalty when Manuel Almunia was adjudged to have brought Wayne Rooney down. Rooney scored from the spot to level the score at 1-1 before About Diaby put in his own net to hand United a 2-1 victory.

In the 50th game of Arsenal's unbeaten run of 2003-04, United came with a game plan to kick Arsenal off the park, a ploy that was aided by bad refereeing. Arsenal forward Jose Antonio Reyes was almost massacred by Gary Neville, but referee Mike Riley took no action. Arsenal lost the game 2-0 and their unbeaten run came to an immediate halt.

Jose Antonio Reyes was brutally fouled by United players

Away from the perceived favouritism, most referees in the Premier League abet foul play by waving 'play on' when other referees in other leagues would blow for a foul. They do that to 'let the game flow' when in an actual sense doing so encourages 'dirty players' to continue terrorising opposition players resulting in fatal injuries! Dutch midfielder Nigel de Jong's horror tackles nearly ended the careers of Stuart Holden and Hatem Ben Arfa before he carried on with his disgusting fouls into the World Cup final in South Africa, delivering a Kung fu kick to Xabi Alonso. Incidentally, he somehow escaped a red card and the man who kept him on the pitch was Premier League's Howard Webb! He went on to award a red card but to another player, Johnny Heitinga, for consistent foul play, and de Jong, who was supposed to have seen marching orders already, stayed on!

Last season Mike Dean angered Arsene Wenger when he awarded a penalty to West Brom after he adjudged Calum Chambers to have handled in the penalty area. Cameras showed it wasn't handball, but ball to hand, but Arsenal dropped two precious points after the spot-kick was converted by Jay Rodriguez for the game to end 1-1.

After the game, then Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger raged to the Evening Standard

"What do you think?

" It wasn't a penalty. There was no handball, it wasn't a deliberate handball.

"I think the referee hasn't even seen it. I'm angry because we have seen the same things again."

The vividly angry Wenger turned his criticism towards the profession saying:

" We have seen the same things again and again. We tried very hard a few years ago for the referees to become professional and we did. I see no improvement.

"At the end of the day there are two countries in Europe where you have professional referees: in Italy and in England. Not one English referee will go to the World Cup.

"But everything is alright. You cannot say a word against it because they are untouchable. It's not only me who judges them."

Mike Dean gave an unjust penalty to WBA against Arsenal

Wenger was punished by the FA but his stinging words had sunk to the bone marrow. Wenger was right, Mike Dean erred to award a penalty here. A player doesn't have to cut off his hands to defend. Chambers' hands were in their natural position and awarding a penalty, in that case, was ludicrous.

In Liverpool's weekend game against West Ham this season, Sadio Mane and two other Liverpool players were clearly in an offside position when the Senegalese scored his second goal and Liverpool's third and despite the West Ham players' protestations, referee Anthony Taylor allowed the goal to stand.

This season again, Michael Oliver denied Arsenal a clear penalty when Benjamin Mendy clearly hauled down Shkodran Mustafi in the penalty area.

Jose Mourinho complained of bad refereeing last season. Asked about Craig Pawson following his side's 0-0 draw against Southampton in December last year, Mourinho told Sky Sports:

"A very good referee, one of the most promising young referee not just in England, but in Europe too, had a very bad decision that punished us.

" I know my players so when I see people like (Juan) Mata almost in hysterics I know, I could understand immediately there's no doubt. And then at half time I watch it. It is a penalty like (Marcus) Rashford against Leicester was a penalty, like Ander Herrera against City was a penalty "

Those and many, many other incidents cannot render the match officials in England blameless. The Premier League is a fantastic league with great players and great managers. It is unacceptable that its referees can make such blunders. It is also unfortunate that in this day and age, as the world is embracing VAR, the Premier League voted against it this season. Perhaps it would have helped the faltering officials clean their house.

With the new season now upon us, the jury is out on the Premier League referees to right their wrongs. Appearing to abet foul play by waving 'play on' has encouraged very dangerous, career-threatening tackles in the Premier League. Such tackles have ended the careers of some players. Eduardo da Silva failed to rediscover his old self after his leg was broken into two by Birmingham City's Martin Taylor.

Eduardo Da Silva being taken on a stretcher after suffering double fracture at Birmingham

Such incidents serve to taint the Premier League whose name it has laboured to promote. It is, therefore, the responsibility of the match officials to end that vice and make the league a complete spectacle henceforth.