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Former English Premier League referee Jeff Winter stated that in the current prestigious championship watched all over the world, the level of refereeing is not high enough.
Discussions about the quality of refereeing gained momentum again after a match between London and the Eleven, where the field referee Phil Dowd did not award a controversial penalty kick to the "Gunners" goal after Mathieu Flamini's foul, and counted a goal which, according to "Wigan" coach Paul Jewell, was clearly offside.
"In my opinion, the main problem is that there are not enough top-class referees," Winter said, ending his career in 2004. "The system is not working completely well and the level of refereeing is not as it should be in the Premier League. However, there are young talented referees, so the situation can improve."
Despite that, Winter pointed out not only the fault of his colleagues, but also the fault of the football players for the increasingly difficult and openly criticized problem: "Players' behavior must improve. Diving and intentional collapses to earn an undeserved foul make the work even harder for the best referees - Pierluigi Collina would definitely not have an easy time in England."
However, Winter rejected the proposal of some officials to review questionable episodes through video, stating that it would only create more confusion.
"Let's say, in one side of the field a player in a disputed episode asks for a penalty kick, and the referee, making the right decision or making a mistake, decides not to award the foul. The game continues and on the other side of the field, after a few moments, a team scores a goal.
"And now let's say the referee decides to stop the game, review the recording and sees that he didn't make a mistake.
"How should the game continue then? The team that scored loses the opportunity to counterattack and score a quick goal.
"If we were to stop the game for every such episode, it would probably be the officials in the stands scrutinizing and detailing every penalty kick or throw-in, not the referee."
