FA 'Satisfied' With Referee Linington

The Football Association said they were satisfied with referee James Linington and the way he handled last night's eventful Cup tie.

While Linington has to be one of the worst referees I've seen in a Swansea City match, the FA are satisfied with how he handled the game.

That is ridiculous. He had no control over the match, and together with his assistants they gave everything in Scunthorpe's favour, offsides, goalkicks, corners and fouls in particular. Linington couldn't blow his whistle quick enough when we were tackling Scunthorpe players but he let play continue when the opposition were flying in with tackles on the Swans. Even the Scunthorpe manager admitted in the post-match comments that his side were physical.

The referee's shocking and biased performance enraged a lot of the Swansea City players as three were sent off. 2 of them at least were probably deserved but the other seemed harsh from my point of view.

The FA won't be analysing the officials from last night's farce, and Swansea City will have to write an official complaint to the English FA, who will it pass it onto the FAW, to take matters further.

An FA spokesman said:

'The referee advised [Swansea manager] Paulo Sousa for the injured player to return to the field so the game could be concluded,'

'The Swansea management could have refused to send the player back on but it was in the best interests of everyone involved in the game for it to have a conclusion.

'Discussing what punishment Swansea would have faced if they did not comply with the referee's advice and any subsequent abandonment would be hypothetical because the player returned to the field.

'But should the game have been abandoned, there would clearly have been an investigation.'

As a result of last night's chaotic match, Sousa now has 11 players unavailable in his squad as Dobbie and new signing Idrizaj picked up injuries. Three others are suspended - Monk, Rangel and Pintado and they all join Bodde, Pratley, Allen, Serran, Bauza and Butler on the sidelines.

*Try Vital Mobile FOR FREE for the latest news, scores, fixtures and so much more*

Click here to join in the debate on the club forum.