I suspect I'll be shot down by some but think it's worth posting on here anyway. It's an excellent article written by a Liverpool fan on the bias towards United and selection of referees and possible corruption in the game.

http://diminbeirut.typepad.com/my-blog/corruption-and-influence-peddling-in-english-football/

Even if you believe everything is perfect in the English game and all is rosy it's worth a read.

good article, plus i like how he added other famous people in there as well being protected by power. People can call me paranoid all they want but no matter what people say, i always believed something really fishy going on.

It raises plenty of good points, that several have made on this forum.

A bit hard to take seriously when it's written by a Liverpool fan, but it's all very fishy.

His first Utd game since City killed them, in particular, is all a bit bizarre.

Great read. It is curious, but not convinced.

It is interesting and persuasive but whilst I agree something smells rotten, alot of that argument relies upon stats which we all know are very easy to manipulate.

The cases the author cites are real enough. Nevermind not getting another match (THAT alone is suspicious. If the FA had any sort of backbone they would put an official Ferguson complained about right back into the mix) but the cases of favorable calls once the official returns are very hard to ignore.

Also, common sense tells anyone there is something wrong when a club chairman is brought into a huge position of power at the FA. I felt the same about it when Dein was in there. Are competent men in football in such short supply that the FA can just ignore conflicts of interest when they crop up? Even if nothing is suspect about Gill's involvement with the FA, why is he allowed to keep his position at the club and still gain a place of authority with the game's governing body.

Ferguson wields an unhealthy amount of influence within the English game, partly because of the respect he commands and the fear he creates. I guess acolytes of Benitez have been saying this for a long time, but its only something that will change when he finally leaves the game.

another very, very similar piece in the Sabotage Times: http://www.sabotaget...ree-conspiracy/

For the additional information it contains, I would also highly recommend this read. The line it seems to take is that there is a general lack of backbone and competence by the people running the game in England.

This article asks the additional question: why is Mike Riley (incompetent as he was) in charge of deciding which officials go to which games. Why is that even a selection process? If you have competent officials, it should be decided completely at random which officials take which matches.

Edited October 30, 201213 yr by TheWestwayWonder

There's a lot of circumstantial evidence regarding how Man U have been favoured by referees over the past few years, with referees being allocated to games based on whether Ferguson shoots his mouth off, but there's no smoking gun. In other words, there is no evidence of systematic coercion of these referees by Man U, whether it be by bribery, threats, etc. At this rate, the FA could easily ignore and/or punish Ferguson whenever he chooses to make comments that undermine the ref's authority, but they've been reluctant to do so - why? How much influence does David Gill have in the FA? Why does such a relationship even exist?

The whole thing stinks and warrants further investigation by an external committee. It would be very interesting to see what comes out of it.

another very, very similar piece in the Sabotage Times: http://www.sabotaget...ree-conspiracy/

Of course, the pro-Man U comments accuse him of being drunk, jealous, dishonest, etc...

Even if you believe everything is perfect in the English game and all is rosy it's worth a read.

See, this is the problem. The British seem to be less inclined to take action to rectify perceived wrongdoings than say, the Italians.

I think all Anglo peoples have this problem, TBH. Few people are more apathetic than Australians, for instance. Even modern Americans have become reluctant to tackle their demons.

I find it suss that Gill is VP of the FA.

Edit: But whether or not it is suss is a different matter

Edited October 30, 201213 yr by Cam

in every walk of life people are competitive. some are so competitive that they will use any mean to their advantage. spies, bullies, scientists, money, absolutely anything! this is a dog eat dog world and the goonies (as an example)can profess all they want about a fair playing field but they do have one of the best managers in the world and a massive stadium.