letter to fa re: Mr D'Urso

Dear Sir/Madam,

It is with deep regret that I write this letter however I have never been so angry with what was once described as the beautiful game.

I understand that it is more the football clubs position to contact the FA with regard to any problems regarding officials, however this is twice that the same official has ruined football games that I have paid a fortune to travel to and watch.

From the start, before the match there were comments throughout the stadium that nobody could believe that the FA had given Mr D'Urso the position of officiating in another Norwich City v Bristol City match after the blatant howlers that occurred in the previous meeting between the two sides. It was obvious in that match that something was wrong with Mr D'Urso's attitude towards Norwich City Football Club. And yet the FA decided to appoint him again to officiate the exact same fixture. I can tell you now, I was flabbergasted along with the rest of the fans.

And so Mr D'Urso blew the starting whistle and from minute one continued where he had left off at the previous meeting between the two sides. If you were to review the tapes on the match it would be evident that he persisted in giving fouls against Norwich players when no foul was committed and yet when a Bristol player looked like he had assaulted a Norwich player, no foul was given.

Just before half time the inevitable happened and Mr D'Urso awarded a penalty to Bristol and sent off Norwich City's captain. Now watch the tapes and tell me that was a penalty. The defender clearly tackled the player, taking the ball first, OUTSIDE the box, then his momentum takes him into the player INSIDE the box. So, can you not tackle players anymore?

Throughout the game there were shouts for 3 penalties to be awarded to Norwich. 2 for handball and one for a foul on Adam Drury. I admit that one of these was a bit of an optimistic appeal but the second handball the Bristol player clearly dived like a goalkeeper and palmed the ball around the post and the Adam Drury foul, lets just say, even the Bristol fans after the game said it was a nailed on penalty, the player did not play the ball and pushed Drury to the ground - please review the tapes for evidence.

I find it hard to believe that the FA is pushing this "respect" campaign and yet it fails in it's duty to appoint quality, professional referees. You only have to look as far as the sport of rugby to see how professional referees should behave and see how much respect the fans and players have for the referees. Mr D'Urso is not 100% to blame as he should never have been put in the position of having to officiate this fixture after the previous debacle, however you put him in that position and once again he failed and cost a club points.

On a slightly more lighter/comical note, try "googling" Andy D'Urso. In the top 10 hits you will see what fans from around the country think of this inept official?s performances. Not only is there an online petition to get rid of him, there are groups and reports of all his errors. I don't see too many other referees attracting this kind of unwanted attention so there is obviously something amiss with Mr D'Urso that upsets the fans who pay good money to have their team's matches ruined by an official trying to take centre stage. We are, after all, paying to watch a football match, not a referee.

I urge you to think about the refereeing policy in great detail, and especially the video technology debate since yesterday a quick word from Mr D'Urso to his 4th official looking at a monitor would have seen a different outcome to the match.

I thank you for your time.

Yours Sincerely

Posted By: Tony Martin, Feb 9, 20:35:39