Nobody likes to see referees making mistakes. Not the fans, not the players, not the managers and certainly not the match officials themselves.

But the fuss made over Neil Swarbrick’s error in last week’s game between Manchester City and West Bromwich Albion was grossly disproportionate.

In case you missed it, Swarbrick sent off West Brom’s Gareth McAuley instead of Craig Dawson when the latter committed a professional foul after just 89 seconds.

This was the second case of mistaken identity in the Premier League this season after Sunderland’s Wes Brown was sent off for an offence committed by team-mate John O’Shea.

But are these, admittedly stupid, mistakes really the game-changers that the managers, fans and experts in the commentary boxes would have us believe? Would it have made any difference to the end result at the Etihad if West Brom had played the remaining 89 minutes of the match with McAuley on the pitch instead of Dawson?

I’m not for one second trying to justify the errors. In Swarbrick’s case it is almost unfathomable how he could have got the wrong player considering he was perfectly positioned. And anyone who says Brown looks like O’Shea might want to think about a quick trip to Specsavers.

But surely the difference between having Dawson on the pitch or McAuley is negligible. They are both defenders and you could argue that Dawson is actually the more accomplished player. He is certainly the more experienced.

It’s not like in either of these cases that the referee sent off Lionel Messi instead of Titus Bramble.

Having said that, an incident may occur where this sort of mistake does make a big difference. Where an average player is wrongly allowed to stay on the pitch while a star player soaks in an unjust early bath.

That would be genuinely game-changing and, given the way football is going, I wouldn’t be surprised if it opened up a Pandora’s Box filled with ugly lawsuits and compensation claims.

Match officials are having a torrid time this season. They are under the most intense scrutiny and are responding by making more mistakes than ever before, not just of mistaken identity either.

The people that run football have to sort the situation out and quickly.

Maybe we have now reached a stage where the introduction of video replays is becoming somewhat inevitable.

As the years have gone by I have actually grown more reluctant to the idea of video technology being used in football. These days I tend to agree with those who suggest errors even themselves out over the course of a year.

But we may now be reaching a point of no return, where the clamour for technology to be introduced becomes deafening and the people who run the game are left with no choice.

My warning is this: be careful what you wish for. Video replays may solve simple, rare and non-game-changing issues like these cases of mistaken identity. They may even solve some other moments of controversy.

But they could also open us up to all sorts of new problems that we didn’t even know existed. Their introduction will be the most dramatic change to the game of football in its history.

I tend to agree with those who suggest errors even themselves out over the course of a year

And that’s not a decision we should take lightly. Even if it does help stop men like Swarbrick looking like a prat.

Wage to go

Fifa announced some of its financial figures recently and the one I can’t get out of my head is its wage bill.

Despite having just 474 employees, it paid out more than €80 million in wages in 2014. That means the average salary at the organisation is nearly €170,000 a year.

Of course, like any organisation, much of that money will be spent on people at the top of the corporate structure – you can pretty much guarantee Sepp Blatter and his fellow cronies are not short of a bob or two.

But I still find it hard to justify how a non-profit organisation can spend so much on so few.

Maybe it is something to do with them having their headquarters in Zurich, hardly a city known for low wages and inexpensive living. Maybe they should think about relocating to Bulgaria or maybe even India to save on wage costs.

In fact, writing that last sentence has given me an inspired, if slightly tangential, idea: why doesn’t Blatter go one step further and actually practise what he preaches?

If he is so keen for the World Cup to be held in countries all over the globe to spread the football message, why doesn’t he apply the same principle to his HQ. Surely they would be better able to promote the game if they had boots on the ground.

He could move the organisation’s base in sync with the tournaments.

Russia 2018? Open up shop in Moscow for four years.

Qatar 2022? Pack everything up and move everyone to Doha the day after the Russian final.

Of course, Fifa would have a bit of trouble persuading some of its 474-strong team to make the Qatar move.

Like the ones who don’t want to faint in the oppressive heat, those that like the odd after-work drink, those who believe in the rights of women and workers and those who happen to be gay.

But if football fans are ex­pected to put up with that, why not Fifa’s very well remunerated employees?

Of course, I am not being entirely serious with this. I actually believe that Fifa needs a solid, permanent base.

However, I do question why it needs to be in Switzerland when moving it somewhere less glamorous and extravagant could save tens of millions of euros a year.

That would buy underprivileged children in developing countries an awful lot of footballs…

A welcome departure?

Two seasons, two crucial games, two heartbreaking failures.

It may have once sounded unthinkable, but I am seriously starting to wonder if Liverpool fans might actually be happy to see the back of Steven Gerrard this summer.

Fair enough, as costly as it might have been, his slip against Chelsea last season was merely unfortunate.

But there was, as the man himself has admitted, nothing unlucky about his stupid sending off against Manchester United last Sunday.

After coming on at half time, the Liverpool captain got his marching orders just 38 seconds later. That’s only slightly longer than it took Brendan Rogers to realise he made a mistake buying Mario Balotelli.

With 11 players on the pitch there was always the chance that Liverpool could find a way back into a crucial, must-not-lose game against their bitter rivals. With 10, the comeback was all but impossible.

There is no doubt that Gerrard has been a magnificent servant to Liverpool over the years. He will rightly be remembered as an Anfield legend.

But it is becoming increasingly clear that his time as a crucial part of the set-up is over and his move to America is looking smarter by the day.

Originally I imagine he chose to move to the States because he couldn’t face the prospect of playing for another team in England other than Liverpool.

The way things have gone, however, I’m not sure any other Premier League team would want him.

sportscolumnist@timesofmalta.com
Twitter: @maltablade

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