Garner and Swindon seeking clarity on refereeing decisions

BEN GARNER told local media this morning that Swindon Town have not received any reply from the FA after the club sent numerous video clips to the governing body asking for clarification on several officiating decisions. Total Sport Swindon’s Ryan Walker spoke to the Swindon Town Head Coach during Friday’s pre-match press conference.

On the eve of a televised trip to League Two table-toppers Forest Green Rovers, Ben Garner highlighted grey areas in refereeing decisions against the club this season. 

Whilst crediting the difficulty of an officials job, Garner insisted there is a requirement for referees to perform at the best level and not let unfair decisions affect the outcome of matches.

Benefiting from a questionable penalty decision against Bristol Rovers last weekend, Garner said:

"It's difficult to comment and as managers you will always be disappointed when decisions go against you,” he said. 

"As managers we understand what a difficult job it is but we have sent a few video clips off to the governing bodies and people in control of referees because there is a couple of grey areas we've been disappointed with.

"We've been sending clips off and asking why these decisions have not been given and particularly offsides,” he added.

“There are a lot of grey areas on offsides, Alex Gilbert went through and lobbed the goalkeeper the other day and he was given offside when he was two-yards onside when the ball was played.

"Those decisions shouldn't be wrong. We understand it is a difficult job and we want officials to get as many right decisions as possible but we work hard to get players up to their best level and we just want officials to be at their best level as well so the outcome of games is fair and it's not the outcomes of officials that is negatively impacting results,” said Garner.

The Swindon Town Head Coach then went on to reveal that despite sending video clips to the FA weeks ago, the club has not received any response from the governing body.

"We haven't had any response from the video clips we sent off and that was a couple of weeks ago so I will ask our Club Secretary to chase again. It's not criticising referees, it is just a few grey areas where want to know what the rules are,” he said.

“We have had throw-ins against us taking 18-yards from where the ball went out of play and these are just basic things that shouldn't be happening,” added Garner.