Great to see the new Hyundai A league get under way but is the FFA treading on thin ice trying to implement retrospective punishments a la the game we don’t mention. Sadly the powers that be don’t know any better.
More worrying is the fact that the referees are pulling up too many fair-but-hard tackles; Tackles that would be acceptable in most leagues around the world.
Two issues will come out of this, the first is your better players who have come from overseas are going to be missing games due to suspensions, and they are the players the punters pay to watch. Secondly you will deter players from coming to the A league, if they have to adapt their natural game so much.
It is easy to knock referees, and without them we do not have a game, but the football in the A-League has improved since the NSL days, whereas with the exception of a few, the refreeing has not kept pace with that improvement.
