It may be transfer season but, rather than Scott McDonald's pending switch from Celtic to Central Coast Mariners, the issue on everyone's lips over the past few weeks has been the consistency of referees in the A-League.
Okay, so I just made that bit about Scott McDonald up. But I can always dream...
I (and many others) believe that there is one key problem which, in recent months, has been highlighted by a multitude of refereeing inconsistencies. I am, as you may have guessed, talking about the giving of yellow cards for delaying the restart of play.
The issue of cautioning players for delaying the restart of play (or simply, kicking/throwing the ball away or refusing to give it to the opposing team after conceding a free kick/penalty/corner etc.) really shouldn't be an issue. FIFA's newest edition of its 'Laws of the Game' states that "delaying the restart of play" results in an automatic yellow card.
Fair cop, if you ask me. But according to some A-League referees, this action doesn't always warrant the appropriate punishment.
Often, it has merely been that the player has escaped a caution. But for the unlucky ones who have been dealt a yellow card, it has sometimes resulted in a suspension for an accumulation of yellow cards or a second yellow card in a single match and, therefore, a red card.
One example of this was the sending off of the Newcastle Jets' Ben Kantarovski during their Round 22 match against Melbourne Victory. Kantarovski received a first yellow card for kicking the ball away and just minutes later, received a second yellow card for fouling Robbie Kruse.
In this past week, Lucas Pantelis' sending off against Perth Glory caught the attention. After picking up his first caution on 67 minutes, he was sent off deep into injury time for allegedly continuing to play the ball after a Lloyd Owusu foul led to the Reds conceding a late free kick.
Let me just state that I am by no means on the side of the players here. Receiving a yellow card for such an offence is nothing short of stupid and is something that professional footballers, especially those that are already on a yellow card or facing a suspension, should be avoiding at all costs.
But sometimes in the heat of the moment, emotions rise and tempers flare and these things just happen. Yet, despite the fact that this offence is technically a yellow card, I couldn't count the number of times I've seen it go unpunished.
What needs to be established is that delaying the restart of play, kicking the ball away after conceding a free kick, continuing to play after being called offside, whatever you want to call it, is a yellow card.
The problem lies solely with the referees. Not the players, not the match review panel and not really the assistant referees or fourth official. It is ultimately up to the referee to award a yellow or red card. The referees need to be sat down and told that if a player delays the restart of play by kicking away, refusing to release or continuing to play the ball in any way, shape or form, they should be given a yellow card with no questions asked.
If this seems harsh, argue with FIFA. What's laid out in the rules should be followed. If a player spat at his opponent he would be given a straight red card and the same no-nonsense attitude should be applied with this rule.
The only other way this problem is going to be resolved is if this particular offence is removed from the list of cautionable offences. And considering how set in their ways FIFA are, we all know that's not going to happen any time soon.
