Source: Eurosport
Hodgson speaks out on refs' falling standards
Fulham boss Roy Hodgson is falling out of love with European club football because of the standard of refereeing.[LNB]Hodgson is a long-standing member of UEFA's technical committee but has been staggered by poor refereeing in Fulham's Europa League games.[LNB]Everton boss David Moyes has also questioned the value of playing in the Europa League and Hodgson said: "At the moment I would agree with David Moyes entirely. I don't believe Fulham have been able to play on a level playing field. The only reason I am at that point is because of the way we have been treated in the Europa League."[LNB]He added: "We play at home against Amkar Perm and I witness one of the worst challenges I have seen in football - and the referee decides to punish it with a yellow card.[LNB]"In the next match against Basle, [Andy] Johnson is pulled down from behind in the penalty box - and the referee decides to give neither a penalty nor a card to the player. Then we play against Rome at home and have a player sent off when he is clearly not the last man and actually doesn't foul him anyway.[LNB]"Finally we go to Rome and have two players sent off - one of which is the most laughable decisions I have come across in many, many years of football. When I weigh all those things up I'm very, very disappointed - because we have taken the Europa League very seriously and wanted to play well."
