The Barclays Premiership is back and its more controversial than ever! New boys Watford and Sheffield United were both victims of strange penalty decisions. That has reignited the calls for a video referee on the side lines to rule on difficult decisions. Watford’s Chris Powell was deemed to have handled the ball in the box, when it was kicked at his head. Liverpool were awarded a penalty for a Blade’s defender putting Gerrard off his stride as he evaded the tackle and fired off his shot.

Tottenham went a goal down after a couple of minutes as Kevin Davies had a free header while one of his team mates was obstructing  both Calum Davenport and Dimitar Berbatov; another incident that could have used the assistance of video referees.

With the stakes higher than ever in the business of football the introduction of technology that could remove human error should happen sooner rather than later. Two years ago a cheating Roy Carroll cost Tottenham the opportunity of playing in Europe last season and the revenue that would bring when he pretended that Pedro Mendes Shot didn’t cross the line, with the game ending in a 1-1 draw.

The PFA should have reprimanded Carroll for cheating his fellow professionals. Denying them possible bonuses and opportunity to further their career; in the same way that Chelsea players attempted to bring Didier Drogba into line last season following a spate of dives that were worthy of Olympic medals for diving and gymnastics.

Its time that the players earned their money, by playing the beautiful game the way it was intended to be played, and the authorities imposed sanctions that will ensure that cheating of an kind is eradicated from the game.