No disrespect to the fans of Chelsea, Manchester United, Barcelona and Arsenal, or indeed to fans of any soccer team anywhere, but when is everyone going to wake up? The reason Chelsea are out of a dream Champions League final rematch with United is because, in large part they were some way inferior to Barcelona, but also because of the average football fan who sits and follows the action from his living room.

How so?

Well, we have a voice - hundreds of millions of voices around the world to be honest. And only when we (the Joe Average fans) petition the world governing body (FIFA) in enough numbers to change this idiotic method of deciding a game (i.e., one 'older' referee chasing around twenty-two 'younger' players who are bent on gaining an edge, by fair means or foul) will anything be done.

I remember as a kid watching Leeds United being 'cheated' out of the 1973 Cup Winners Cup final versus AC Milan, by the actions of an incompetent referee. That was almost four decades ago and such travesties of soccer justice have been occurring almost on a daily basis ever since. It's only when we see the stakes magnified, as they were at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday evening that the outcry becomes exponentially audible. Tom Henning Ovrebo was the man at the center of the controversy which has seen the Norwegian official receive death threats since, and UEFA, Europe's governing body, called into question over their appointment of what has been perceived as a weak referee. There also have been allegations that UEFA's President and oft opponent of the English style game, Michel Platini, has conspired to do whatever he could to avoid an all-English final in Rome on May 27 - a notion which should be trashed alongside all the great conspiracy theories of our time.

Abject refereeing has been part and parcel of the game since time began and will continue until its governing bodies take the appropriate measures to fix the problem. In the past instant replay has been laughed off the stage by those who seek to preserve the 'purity' of soccer. How pure then were the events of Wednesday night or indeed of 24 hours earlier at Arsenal's Emirates Stadium where Manchester came, saw and conquered?

That contest was marred by another horrendous refereeing decision, one which saw United's Darren Fletcher red carded for a non-existent foul.

The following are the best two solutions available to the world's most popular sport (a) at the very minimum, two referees and four assistants for every major game, and (b) (a) plus instant replay.

If you oppose either solution, then accept the garbage which goes on presently and don't complain about it.

One other thing! I would have red carded Darren Fletcher at the Emirates on Tuesday night, and I would have been wholly wrong in my decision. Reason for my would be error is that I am only human and cannot see through a player - Fletcher and an Arsenal defender stood between referee and ball which left the official completely unsighted.

And just for the record - I was once a player and am now a referee.