Problems and issues with referees happens throughout the game, mistakes are made, even Champions League ties and World Cup qualifiers have suffered from terrible refereeing decisions.
Dealing with those mistakes is crucial to retaining respect for the game with the FA moving swiftly to demote Mike Dean after his sub-standard performance in the Manchester United-Chelsea match.
The showpiece match between the two favourites for the Premiership crown was marred by mistakes from Dean and his assistant Simon Beck, the sort of decisions that didn’t need multiple camera angles to detect.
The FA have a body called Professional Game Match Officials Limited in charge of appointing officials with Dean unlikely to see another high profile Premiership game this season.
On Saturday, seven days after being in charge at Old Trafford he’ll be in charge at Ashton Gate as Bristol City host Swansea in The Championship.
Dean’s next Premiership appointment will be on April 14 as fourth official at the Wigan-Portsmouth match which is probably as far removed from refereeing a Manchester United-Chelsea match as you can get in the Premiership.
Other than the spectacular demise of Mike McCurry, which was probably more related to off-field actions and comments, the SFA seem reluctant to acknowledge or address mistakes from referees.
The English FA does have a far bigger pool of officials to select from and are represented at the major championships but the SFA seem reluctant to demote their referees.
Getting Scottish referees in contention for the major European matches and international competitions is a worthwhile goal but if the same referees are making repeated mistakes and still being awarded the bigger matches it’s not offering much of an example to referees further down the ladder.
Refereeing is a part-time job for Scottish referees, it’s not their main source of income.
Creating a more competitive environment where sub-standard performances are punished with demotion for a month or two from SPL matches should ensure that those that perform erratically are kept away from the top games.
A spell down the divisions getting decisions right and restoring confidence wouldn’t do a referee any harm, when they return to the high profile SPL matches they’ll be more determined than ever to get things right.
Just ask Mike Dean as he heads to Bristol City on Saturday.