Sir Alex Ferguson made some scathing remarks about an official after a recent ManU match. I’m not going to repeat the remarks or even the official’s name (because I don’t think it’s worth it.) The crux of the matter was : Sir Alex thought that the official wasn’t “in shape” to referee a Soccer match of that caliber. (Meaning, Premier League play.)
Now, I generally don’t like officials and I have a HARD time giving them the benefit of the doubt. I’ve just seen too many bad calls and lack of control during many sporting events that I find it very difficult to defend an official, but I’m afraid I’ll have to.
I just read this morning that he has apologized 3 times and yet he is still going to be charged by the FA. I think it’s pretty obvious why they charged him: 1) You can’t say stuff like that about an official when it subjective. 2) It would’ve been different if he had disagreed with a bad call (that we could all watch replayed a million times. 3) Sir Alex said he always respected the official. Really? It’s seems to me like you have no respect for him at all. If you think a dude is out of shape…tell him to his face.
Here’s my take. You cannot complain about the fitness level of a Soccer official when the game moves as slowly as it does. Soccer is a possession game where the ball is easy to follow and it rarely takes a sudden movement to OBSERVE the match. An official doesn’t have to run around like caffeine-induced hamster, but I guess Sir Alex thought differently. Bottom line: he was straight up wrong.
Now I’m reading that ManU is afraid he won’t be able to get a fair hearing on a charge of improper conduct….Let me tell you something Sir Alex:
If you worked for the NFL or NBA you would’ve have already been suspended AND fined. I mean the next day. You are working in the best sports discipline system in the whole world. Period. Take the hearing and enjoy it. Over here, in America, we have no such thing. You know what we have? 
Commissioner Stalin of the NFL and 
Commissioner Franco of the NBA. You’re lucky.
{ 7 trackbacks }