Quote Originally Posted by The Lone Gunman View Post
I’m not surprised nobody has attempted to answer this one.

The difficulty officials have these days is that practically every player, whether they be attackers or defenders, tries to cheat in one way or another.

While we do occasionally see some genuinely poor performances from referees, on the whole they have my sympathy because their jobs have become virtually impossible due to the behaviour of the players, their coaches and their supporters. It’s why I believe much of the criticism they get is way over the top.
It is hard for refs but they are professional refs now and handling things like this should be part of their job. In this situation, where both players are at it, how about, neither side has a free kick but when the ball next goes dead, both players are yellow carded. Equal punishment for both offenders. Snide, niggly play needs to be erased from the game, if a few sendings off leads to this all well & good I say.