RE-WRITING THE RULEBOOK

From The Sunday Times:

‘News of a worrying breach of official procedure at the FA. In accordance with the section of the FA and Fifa handbooks dealing with “Knockout Competitions Involving Liverpool Football Club”, Mike Dean was quite properly selected as the referee for their forthcoming FA Cup final against West Ham. Rule 4b (Officials) states: “…. the referee chosen to officiate at any cup game involving Liverpool FC should, so far as is practicable, be drawn from the Liverpool squad of players, the Liverpool board room, season ticket holders or, at the least, from the nearby geographical proximity”. Dean is indeed from the Wirral, so fitted the bill perfectly. But now he has been replaced. What is the point of having such rules if they are to be countermanded, or ignored? Last summer, Fifa correctly invoked rule 8a (Eligibility), which states that “Liverpool FC should be admitted to whichever cup competition they wish to be a part of, their ineligibility under normal rules notwithstanding”. So it is not as if the procedure has fallen into abeyance.

We were watching closely to see whether that procedure was stuck to in the case of Liverpool's Luis Garcia, who was sent off in the league match against West Ham. Had Luis played for any other club, he would have immediately forfeited his right to play in the Cup Final. But, as manager Rafa Benitez pointed out, Luis quite fancied having a kick about at the Millennium stadium and would be “unhappy” at having to sit out the game, so would it be okay if the card was rescinded, please? Yes, it would be okay, is the simple answer under Rule 3c (player misdemeanours), which makes it clear that the FA can indeed rescind any official punishment meted out to Liverpool players if it is felt that so-doing will minimise the risk of “. . . the imposition of a minute's silence before the game, widespread adoption of black armbands, the depositing of bouquets or yellow ribbons around the entrances to the ground, or the onset of mournful, mass, communal lowing or keening”.

So, come on, Brian Barwick: as a Liverpudlian, you should know this stuff off by heart.'