BY Don McMahon
Don McMahon is a retired senior referee
Every week, for countless years, I have read endless and repeated complaints about the PGMOL and its members, the ¨Professional¨ officials who make up its herd.
I am now going to propose a possible set of solutions to the PIGMOB and its head swineherd Mr.Riley. They will be proffered in order of pragmatic realism, meaning the first few will be those plans which seem, to me, to be most achievable and realistic:
1: Supporters from across all the spectrum of teams and leagues in the UK demand from their respective MP that a formal parliamentary enquiry be undertaken whose purpose, among other things, will be to examine and investigate the goings on in the PGMOL.
2: Supporters, club management and players unite in outrage and indignation against the obvious injustice and corruption being tolerated by the Sweet FA and its leagues and demand a complete review of how Football is being abused in the UK.
3: For any or all of the above approach well-known investigative reporters, ideally who are independent and not directly associated with any of the media, to propose that a thorough investigation and subsequent reporting on the state of Football and specifically the PGMOL be undertaken.
4: Any or all of the above form an investigative framework themselves, using the skill sets of their members (computer reviews, internet research, investigative search, etc.) to begin a concerted and ongoing campaign of detecting questionable practices, potential illicit or illegal activities, suspicious paradigms. To name a few; such as the appointment of the same officials to the same games, the possibility of match-fixing, the questionable ¨arrangements¨ many of the current FA, PGMOL, EPL, Club ownership and player’s agents are suspected of, etc.
5: While the UK is still in the EU, the above investigators can document all suspicious activities and submit them to the EU demanding that said body open an independent investigation of their own using their INTERPOL, member nations police, the EU’s own investigative capacity, etc.
6: As a final resort, every concerned Football supporter, participant or family member across the UK could be solicited to publicly demonstrate against how the Beautiful Game is being bastardized by a troupe of incompetent jesters and clowns and these same concerned individuals could undertake a concerted e-mail and phone assault on their respective deputies, local and regional political boffins, the Sweet FA’s Punch and Judy show, the PGMOL’s sacrosanct and forbidden pigsty, FIFA and EUFA, and ultimately the UK ministry of sport.
Why now? Because we find ourselves with lots of time on our hands and the giant that is professional football, as well as the vast network of the amateur game, are a captive audience and unable to unite against true supporters and fans.
We will not be alone in this venture, as there are many websites that question the way Football is run, across the globe. There are countless people who are fed up with the financial and ethical shenanigans perpetrated by corrupt powermasters…..they are out there but like lost souls, in disarray. We need a shepherd to bring them together and to assemble them into a force to be listened to and reckoned with.
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@Don,
I fully agree with your article. I do have one caveat however. Here in the UK, contrary to the US, the fans are generally treated with utter contempt by all parties involved, including law enforcement and justice. I have always wondered if in the end this has not made it’s way into fans’ heads so much that they believe it to be true.
Thus, my opinion is that they do not think they can change anything, or if they try to change something it is rather self-destructive (as the AAA brilliantly demonstrated in the past decade) and you can even see how the media foments and orients it. Whereas in Germany fans are fully aware they are part of the team, show, event, and use that leverage regularly (for good or bad…), I cannot see anything like it on a large scale in the UK. Fans are treated like a herd and respected only for the potential income they bring.
Just think about the erratic changing of game day/hours. If fans would just NOT go to games changed abusively and NOT resell the tickets, the PA and the broadcasters would stop pulling that sort of respectless crap. But no. No revolt. The same applies to refereeing. Nothing happens. Just the usual grumbling here and there and then, under the media’s constant assault on intelligence, they get shoved back into stupidity’s sinkhole. Maybe seing ghost games in the future will highlight how important fans are and maybe some fans will seize the moment and organise themselves. They would be the perfect group for a viral action as the one you describe.
As for a legal angle to change things, I have my doubts. I think refereeing is the tip of an iceberg called total and utter incompetence. If they were corrupt, they’d all be in jail by now, too stupid to be able to keep a secret or organised an investigtion proof corruption scheme. The brillance of it all is that no one has ever gone to jail for being stupid and icompetent….
The beautiful game is not beautiful without the 12th player. And in the UK he is not considred an actor nor is s/he standing up for her/his rights. Which is too bad. At some point however, I believe that something will have to give.
Can only agree. This has to be looked at.
I Firmly believe Mike Riley is nothing more than a yes man doing the bidding for bigger powers, including the likes of Scudamore when he was around, for all I know , he still is of sorts.
Riley is sufficiently shameless to sacrifice the integrity you would hope would be inherent in a good referee, with the aim of furthering the aims of others, eg looking after Utd and Liverpool, making sure the cheating of England strikers is ignored and unpunished, letting the odd plucky outsider gain success to make the league look more competitive than it actually is eg LCFC, allowing assaults on players, unpunished, to preserve the so called English game, maintaining the media narrative. If Riley bows to such forces, and let’s face it , he does, what or who else has he opened himself up to?
But now, Riley has raised his profile to a level this most secret of men may not want, he has royally screwed up VAR, making it look as dodgy as Fcuk, unless you have an affinity to Liverpool or Utd that is. This is not a good look , things will change next year.
Also, the current situation will make money very tight, will the likes of Stan and his lawyers still accept a status quo that worked against his team, but may no longer have the money rolling in as in the past?
And, the US seem to be going for a second wave of attacks against football corruption. Who knows who they may take down.
Now would be a good time to get rid of Mike Riley, and let what’s left of the decent referees in this country breathe, without pressure from above to , basically, cheat
Let me get this right … We’re in the middle of the worst pandemic in just over a hundred years and you want people to write to their MPs to complain about referees.
Here’s the thing: people – worldwide – don’t give a toss about football any more, let alone football referees. They do care about the simpler things in life, such as life itself. Will they survive the pandemic? Will their elderly loved ones or at-risk children survive? Will they have jobs at the end of it all?
Robert…..at the risk of seeming condescending, the two are not mutally exclusive. If you reread the article you’ll notice that I mention these ideas as options, not WHEN they could occur but rather what might be done to take advantage of the powers that be total bafflement and ignorance of the current situation. If you’d bothered to read some of my other articles that dealt with the future we are facing ,both for sport in general and life, you’d see that I dealt with possible scenarios rather well. You cannot speak for people-worldwide, just yourself and maybe your family/friends. I get that you are prioritizing that your family and loved ones are threatened and that maybe your employment as well, and I am in complete sympathy with you BUT you don’t have to take any part in the eventual questioning about what is…..there are enough of us who do give a toss to perhaps make a difference. I hope you and your family/friends stay well and that everyhting works out for you.
Chris and Mandy……..the real problem here is a lack of leadership and organization to achieve major supporter/fan and Football afficianados’ enthusiastic participation in such a scheme. There are websites,organizations and informal groups that complain about ,not just the officiating BUT the sweet FA, FIFA and EUFA. Were I in the UK, I would certainly try and
generate popular interest in such a campaign. However I am overseas and cannot see anyone but my wife and dog so until that changes, I’m incommunicado, other than through the net. Perhaps, after this crisis is over, I’ll try and see what I can contribute, maybe with Tony and Walter’s help!
Respect to Mandy Todd.