FA Stand Firm Over Kompany Red Card

Manchester City captain Vincent Kompany has failed in his attempts to have the 4 match suspension he received following his red card against local rivals Manchester United rescinded. Kompany was given a straight red in the early stages of his team's FA cup 3rd round clash with United for a 2 footed sliding tackle - although replays seemed to show he did win the ball cleanly in the challenge. Following the game's conclusion the challenge divided opinions between players and pundits alike regarding the legitimacy of the decision. However, the FA have backed referee Chris Foy's original decision and as such Kompany must now serve a 4 match suspension with immediate effect.

     This issue is likely to leave City boss Roberto Mancini with a defensive headache for his side's forthcoming clash with Liverpool - with fellow centre back Kolo Toure currently away on international duty with the Ivory Coast and his squad also hit by several injuries. This has led for Mancini to call for further investment in the team - a statement that has drawn strong criticism in many quarters given the vast amount of money he has already spent on players under his tenure at City.

Premier League Refs Prove Fitness With Heart Rate Monitors

As many fans will know, Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has never been one to shy away from sharing his opinions on the match officials, but his comments during 2009 outraged referees - and indeed many football fans - across the country with his claims that Premier League referee Alan Wiley was “was not fit enough for a game of that standard” following his sides failure to beat Sunderland at Old Trafford earlier this season. His claim was particularly infuriating for the men in black as there personal fitness is under constant scrutiny from the Professional Game Match Officials (PGMO) and the Premier League itself. Like many of the top players in England today, referees at the highest level are now using heart rate monitors to measure their fitness on a match to match basis, with one of the countries leading suppliers Polar apparently offering trade rate prices to encourage there uptake amongst the English game’s top football referees. Following Ferguson's comments to the media, the fitness of Premier League refs has been under even more scrutiny in the public eye, but the signs are that through such ongoing measurements of individual fitness performance, it seems the standard of fitness amongst the games top refs is set to remain high.