Arsenal boss Wenger calls for ethics committee to oversee Premier League referees
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger believes the disciplinary process of English football is in need of an overhaul and that an ethics committee should be introduced to review decisions and over-rule referees, the Daily Mail has reported.
The Football Association’s rules state that that a player cannot be retrospectively punished if any of the officials in charge of a game saw the incident in question, a policy that has recently caused controversy when Mario Balotelli’s studs-up challenge on Arsenal midfielder Alex Song went unpunished after one of the officials reported the incident despite referee Martin Atkinson taking no action.
Wenger pointed to that incident and compared it to the decision to uphold the three-match ban given to Queens Park Rangers midfielder Shaun Derry, who was shown a straight red card after being adjudged to have brought down Manchester United winger Ashley Young despite replays showing the contact was minimal at most.
Wenger said: “Basically we are in the position at the moment where if somebody takes a player’s leg off, if the referee has seen it and misjudged it, the player gets away with it. For me that is not acceptable. How can it be right that Shaun Derry is suspended and Mario Balotelli isn't?”
“I am convinced that…an ethics committee - could rule on some cases. They should have the power after games, in exceptional circumstances, to make a decision above the referee. Then the system would be perfect.
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