Glenn Gibbons: Blundering referees are caught up in self-delusion

Depressing examples of this condition – an especially dangerous one among officials whose actions can exert such a telling influence on the fortunes of others – were to be found on both sides of the border in the past few days, underlining the widespread contention that the malady is not confined to one particular region of these islands.

In Scotland, the latest purveyor of transparent propaganda was Willie Collum, the Grade One referee who, in the fashion of the legendary film producer, Samuel Goldwyn, is likely to be best remembered for his seemingly endless series of blunders. Old Sam’s gaffes were largely verbal non sequiturs (“I won’t believe this Technicolor till I’ve seen it in black and white”), but Collum’s frequently inexplicable decisions could determine the outcome of a championship – and, by extension, dictate the course of millions of pounds.

Despite the injudiciousness of Collum and his fellows that has kept the Scottish FA’s compliance officer and review panel in the kind of regular employment that could get a government re-elected, he showed not the slightest embarrassment when insisting that the stock of Scottish referees has rarely been higher.

“Certainly, the morale of the referees is good,” he said. “We’re performing well. I am part of the Euro 2012 team with Craig Thomson, which is fantastic. Scottish refereeing is thriving.”

Collum added the scarcely credible claim that the Respect campaign, aimed at cultivating a less hostile attitude towards match officials, especially among managers and players, “has been a success, without a doubt”. Given the seemingly constant charges and convictions imposed on offenders by the SFA, failure of the initiative hardly bears thinking about.

In England, Philip Dorward, speaking on behalf of the Premier League and Professional Game Match Officials, almost breathtakingly referred to “facts” when defending his members against the groundswell of opprobrium that has sprung from innumerable examples of incompetence. Dorward was countering the claim made by the former top-level referee, Clive Thomas, who put the case for the prosecution quite concisely: “I’ve lost faith in referees,” he said. “I think refs are missing things.”

Dorward’s response was a monument to cold-blooded, cussed defiance: “Clive is entitled to his opinion,” he said, “but the facts point in the opposite direction.” One of the facts Dorward appeared to miss (and this on the very day he made his ludicrous comment) was that Mike Riley, the head of his own organisation, PGMOL, apologised to the Wigan Athletic manager, Roberto Martinez, for the appalling decisions from an assistant referee at Stamford Bridge that allowed two blatantly offside goals from Chelsea to stand and cost the latter’s relegation-threatened side three points.

Dorward appears also not to have noticed the fact that the intelligence-free actions of another of his members, Martin Atkinson, ensured that Mario Balotelli, the Manchester City striker, could not be retrospectively charged by the FA over a dangerous and reckless challenge on Arsenal’s Alex Song.

Atkinson made the absurd claim in his official report on the match that he and one of his assistants had seen the incident, but had only a partial view, while the other assistant and the fourth official saw nothing of it.

The fact that the incident was mentioned by Atkinson allowed the FA off the hook, their spokesperson insisting that they were hamstrung by Fifa’s edict on retrospective punishment. Atkinson’s preposterous decision to include in his report the mention of a serious collision he did not properly see – thereby allowing the disciplinary wing of the FA a get-out – suggests a lack of wit. The association’s readiness to take refuge under Fifa’s questionable statute hints strongly at a scandalous absence of steel.