Halsey snubbed by referee chiefs

MARK HALSEY, the controversial former elite referee who lost his role as a regular BT sport pundit following Premier league upset, has had an invitation to speak to a regional referees association withdrawn following intervention from the highest level.

Halsey was due to address the sheffield Referee Association on how he beat cancer to continue as a top referee. But an objection from an unnamed football figure led to the national Referees Association persuading their sheffield branch to embarrassingly cancel the appearance of Halsey, who was giving his services free.

The email from laura Ritchie, chairwoman of the RA, read: ‘A senior member of the footballing world has brought it to our attention that you have invited Mark Halsey to be a guest speaker. It is a worry that a figure who is being very negative about top-flight referees won’t send the right message to members. It may be perceived sheffield RA agree with his viewpoint.’

sheffield management then informed members: ‘There was an agreement that we cancel Mark after pressure from the national RA and the wider football world.’ And the sheffield response to the RA said: ‘Our irritation at having been placed in this position cannot be underestimated. Are we saying that as referees, we are above criticism?’

FA refs chief David elleray is president of the RA but last night He denied any involvement. However, Halsey’s strong views on a decline in refereeing standards is certainly born out by the widespread furore around their performances this season.

BBC rugby co-commentator Brian Moore (right) reacted to his perceived ‘snub’ at being one of the few TV pundits not included in ITV’s giant World Cup team by tweeting ‘I’ve been told I’m too controversial for TV World Cup coverage. Too c***, I could take but controversial, b*******.’ However, it wasn’t ITV who told Moore he is controversial. The network, happy to employ the more volatile Roy Keane as a football pundit, have had no contact with Moore.