THE FA have been told to ban El Hadji Diouf before he
ruins someones life.
The Bolton bad-boy got away with murder on Sunday, earning just a
yellow card for a horror X-rated challenge on Liverpools Alvaro
Arbeloa.
Now former top ref Jeff Winter reckons the time has come for the
authorities to get tough before the striker breaks an opponents
leg or even ends their career.
On paper, the FA are unable to punish Diouf as the match officials
dealt with the offence on the pitch.
But Winter, who described the tackle as an assault, says the
rules must be changed to stamp out the cheats.
He said: One of these days someone is going to get their leg
broken at best and at worst have their career ended by a
stupid tackle that could have been prevented.
Anyone who has ever played football knows that you cannot win the
ball by jumping into a challenge and the sooner the FA get tough on
this kind of crime the better.
Referees should show straight red cards for two-footed lunge
tackles and there should be no exceptions.
That would stamp it out completely.
Even if it means we have games spoiled because there are so many
red cards being shown, then so be it.
Complete
disgrace
I dont want to take any of the heart and commitment out of the
game but these challenges are like physical assaults.
Its frustrating because it is blatantly obvious that on a Monday
morning the authorities are not going to take any action.
If the ref has already cautioned a player, it is not in the FAs
power to do any more about it.
They wont upgrade a yellow to a red, even if the player deserves
it which, to me, is a complete disgrace.
Dioufs challenge, for example, earned him a yellow card when it
should have been a red.
But, to be honest, that tackle was so bad it deserved a SIX-MATCH
ban let alone three games. They should hammer him.
Sooner or later Diouf, or a player like him, is going to seriously
hurt someone or even end their career.
The FA would certainly have charged Diouf with violent conduct
yesterday had the ref not seen it. Instead, because the ref has
dealt with it, the authorities wont lift a finger and its
farcical.
Readings Stephen Hunt got away with a similar challenge against
Manchester City a week earlier.
But Tottenham skipper Robbie Keane was not so lucky after seeing
red during Sundays 3-2 home defeat at the hands of
Birmingham.
Winter, who retired from refereeing after the 2004 FA Cup final,
says football should now adopt the same approach as rugby where
cheats can be cited a few days after a game has finished.
He added: I think were going to see over the next few weeks a
splurge of red cards because Im sure the referees are going to be
told they must get tough on these types of incidents.
There is no place in the game for the sort of two-footed
challenges that weve seen recently by the likes of Stephen Hunt
and El Hadji Diouf.
Theyve got to be read correctly and red cards have to be
issued.
Of course, when you see feet flying in, there are times when there
are over-reactions from the officials, as with Robbie Keanes
dismissal.
In his case, the replay shows he didnt go in with two feet and,
maybe, a red card was a little bit harsh. But if sending him off
gives the right message that those kind of challenges need to be
stamped out, I can live with that.
In rugby, they have a citing officer whose job it is to look
through the tape and, basically, re-ref the game.
Even if a player has been carded, there is the possibility of
retrospective action if the foul play warrants it.
Perhaps we should have the same sort of thing here.
These two-footed challenges have crept into the game more and more
recently. Its like one every week and it must be stopped.
Spurs have appealed Keanes red card, as video replays showed the
striker lunged with only one foot not two.
But what angered Tottenham most was how ref Phil Dowd appeared to
consult the fourth official, Uriah Rennie, over his radio mic
before giving Keane his marching orders which is against the
rules.
However, the body in charge of Premier League refs, the
Professional Game Match Officials, last night insisted Dowd did NOT
consult Rennie but merely informed him of the action he was
taking in order to aid the management of the technical areas.
Winter added: Normally, when you are going to send a player off,
the card is in your hand very quickly.
But, in my view, he was just radioing his officials to say Get
ready, Im giving him a red card.
The fourth official is only supposed to get involved with a
decision if it is regarding an off-the-ball incident that no one
else has seen.
People say they look at replays but they are not allowed to.
Im not saying it has never happened in the past, where the ref
has acted on the nod and a wink from a fourth official.
But in this case, I think thats impossible because Rennie would
not have had enough time to see a replay.
