Former referee Graham Poll has stated that playacting, diving and unsporting conduct from players are making the official’s job on the pitch nigh on impossible.
The last round of fixtures seen a number of questionable penalties awarded, and referee Martin Atkinson criticised over the sending off of Robert Huth; Poll feels the players are making it difficult for officials.
“Unfortunately, those incidents involving [Adam] Johnson and [Danny] Welbeck were, technically, penalties,” Poll told Mirror Football.
“So was the penalty won by Daniel Sturridge in the QPR-Chelsea FA Cup tie, when the nature of the fall did not reflect the severity of the contact.
“In each case, there was illegal contact – not enough to justify theatrical falls, but enough to leave the referee with a big call – and it’s a shame the game has moved in that direction.
“For every decision, you can look at the referee’s positioning, whether he had a good view and so on, but there has to be more focus on the players. It’s time somebody got hold of them and said, ‘Hang on a minute – what you’re doing is not in the spirit of the game.’
“Why should referees be hung out to dry when it’s players who are bending the rules?
“Tony Pulis, the Stoke manager, was complaining at the weekend about a culture of professionals cheating each other and talked about a ‘disease’ creeping into the game. And he has a point, without a shadow of doubt.
“The practice of clutching your face when you’ve only been brushed on the shoulder is something I don’t like.
“And it’s just as distasteful when you get five players surrounding a referee, demanding a red card, which is what happened before Robert Huth was sent off at the weekend.
“That’s an awful spectacle, it’s horrific. And if you see junior players copying it on a Sunday morning, are you going to blame the referee?
“When the FA launched their Respect campaign, it was supposed to put a stop to that kind of behaviour, but I can’t remember the last time a Premier League club was fined for failing to control their players like that,” he concluded.
By Gareth McKnight
