What a disgraceful ref

OK, so Melbourne Victory beat Adelaide Utd 1-0 in the 2008/2009 A-League grand final, thus becoming A-League champions. Fair game to them. But I can't help but feel that the referee wrecked the grand final. He sent off Adelaide player Cristiano after only 10 minutes, thus ruining grand final. This referee is killing football.

A replay of the red card incident showed that Cristiano merely leapt to challenge for the ball, as is his right to do. What else was Cristiano meant to do - stand by like a pole & let the opposition get the ball just like that??? True, there may have been an elbow connected to the competing Melbourne player, but it was never malicious & the elbow is a product of Cristiano jumping to challenge for the ball. Sure, to be fair, the ref's decision might have been influenced by the linesman whom he consulted before brandishing the red card - & in that sense, the linesman should also take some of the blame. But all is said & done, the ref is responsible for his decisions. And the red card decision is a very bad one. If the ref has any doubts whether or not Cristiano should have been sent off, then he shouldn't have proceeded to eject the player. It is a grand final, for goodness sake. Both sides worked hard to get to the stage - so why not allow both teams to give their best account of themselves???

To call this referee incompetent or amateur would be to damn him with faint praise. And undeserved faint praise, at that. Put it simply, the ref is a disgrace. He should go back to refereeing kindergarden football matches before being allowed back to officiate in the A-League. Correction, the referee should start from scratch & learn how to officiate kindergarden football games. He should be made to earn the right to officiate kindergarden football, before progressing up the ranks to high school football, then university football, then state league football, & whatever else comes before A-League football. The Foxtel commentators were also critical of the referee's red card decision, & correctly so. I feel sorry for the Adelaide Utd players & supporters that their grand final has been ruined by moronic incompetence of a match official. There are few things which annoy me more than incompetent match officials. I have seen too much of this in the A-League. This has to stop. And the sooner, the better. If not, then the Hyundai A-League might as well appoint penguins to replace its current referees. The penguins can't possibly do a worse job.