Respect for refs has to start at the very top

It is no different in the Premier League and Bennett is one of those referee who players and managers have long been wary of getting on the wrong side of.

Which makes Javier Mascherano's attempt to question him time and time again on Sunday all the more difficult to comprehend, particularly as he the Argentinian already had a yellow card to his name.

Throw in the fact Bennett had just sent out a very clear message that he would not tolerate any sort of back chat by booking Fernando Torres and Mascherano's decision to ask the referee "what's happening" was always going to end in dismissal.

Under the laws of the game - and no matter what anyone says about the current climate, football matches should only be governed by the laws - Bennett was well within his rights to send him off for a second bookable offence.

Law 12 of the game stipulates that a player can be booked for dissent if he shows dissent by word or action.Mascherano was not just guilty of this once, he was actually a repeat offender.

The problem is, just like the off-side rule, dissent is another grey area which is open to the interpretation of the referee on the day and this can, and often does, result in inconsistency.

Bennett decided that being asked "what's happening" was a show of dissent too far as it questioned his decision making.

The laws of the game clearly allow referees to make such decisions and for the sake of football it is vital that players know there is a line that they cannot cross.

But, similarly, players have a right to demand at least a degree of consistency and at Old Trafford on Sunday this quality was conspicuous by its absence.

The Match of the Day cameras later showed that Mascherano had spoken to Bennett on three or four separate occasions leading up to his sending off. After seeing these incidents it was easier to understand why Bennett felt his authority was being questioned by a player and was therefore compelled to act.

But what Match of the Day did not show were incidents - and they were numerous - of players on both sides questioning his decisions and, at times, launching into foul mouthed tirades against him.

Did Bennett decide these instances did not amount to dissent? Does he allow players to have a little pop as long as it doesn't happen over and over again? Or does he have his own personal line which he doesn't let players cross?

These are questions which need to be answered. They need to be answered for every single player who kicks a ball on pitches the length and breadth of this country. and they need to be answered for the good of football.

Mascherano's dismissal will not be overturned by the footballing authorities and neither should it be. The referee correctly decided that dissent had been shown and dismissed him and The FA has a moral duty to support Bennett in this case, Anything else would be detrimental to the good of the game,particularly at a time when respect for officials is so high on the agenda in the wake of Ashley Cole's well publicised maltreatment of Mike Riley.

But there is an element of Sunday's controversy which needs to be examining as a matter of urgency and that is the role rival managers play in putting pressure on officials.

Alex Ferguson has been indulging in this highly dubious pastime for decades only for it to be given the euphemism of "manager's mind games" by somehis friends in the media.

It is not mind games. It never has been and never will be. It is a clear attempt by a manager to influence the decision making process of a referee to favour his own team.

Is it really okay for managers to talk about officials in the days leading up to games when their players are hardly allowed to talk to them during the game itself?

Agendas are being set by managers and this will continue to happen while those tasked with who govern the game wash their hands of the problem as a relative insignificance.

Ferguson knows he can get away with it as he did. He got away with it in 1999 when he spoke publicly of the need for the official in charge of United's Champions League clash with Inter Milan to be on his toes because the Italians had a propensity for cheating.

Sure enough, Inter hardly got a decision in their favour throughout the tie - despite having several excellent penalty claims - and United went through.

Ferguson's 'mind games' had paid off, just as they have done several times since, and he was at it again in the build up to Sunday's game, as highlighted in advance by both Rafa Benitez and former Liverpool star and ECHO columnist John Aldridge.

Ferguson is far from being alone, of course, particularly at Premiership level where most managers frequently use the media to try and exert undue influence on referees.

It has got to this stage because the law makers have allowed it to. They have the power to put a stop to this unsporting practice but choose not to, probably out of fear of upsetting the big personalities.

Pontius Pilate impressions have long been the order of the day at Soho Square and even when the FA do act, they invariably take on those who cannot call upon the media to fight their battles.

That is why, in January this year, they wisely banned any player other than team captains from talking to referees - but only at amateur levels.

Had this rule change been in force in football's top tier, Mascherano's venture towards Bennett would have been even more ill advised than it already was and it would have been hoped that this, if nothing else, would surely have helped him see sense.

It would also have removed those grey areas which see some examples of seemingly clear dissent go unpunished.

Mascherano's mistake has been rightly punished and rightly so but football has to get its own house in order from top to bottom if the respect for officials which the game so badly needs is to be achieved.

And unless all managers and players at every level are brought into line then Mascherano will be no more than a sacrificial lamb.

Launching the plan to try and rid the scourge of dissent at amateur level, Football Association chief executive Brian Barwick said: "In my opinion this thing has to start at the bottom."

If the Cole and Mascherano incidents have shown anything it is that this thing has to start at the top.

The very top.