Barber believes football should follow the example set by other sports:
"When Michael Vaughan made comments about the umpires during a Test in South Africa this winter, he was fined the whole match fee," said Barber, even though this was considered a hardline response to some relatively mild remarks. The severity of the comments is not the issue. The fact is the authorities in cricket would not accept their umpires being open to question. In my opinion, football should consider that. It would certainly cut out a lot of criticism if football acted in a similar way. People in the game - players, managers and coaches - have a duty to act in a professional manner with the comments they make. The authorities employ referees to act in a totally impartial way on their behalf. Perhaps they should receive more support from the people who put them there."