Originally Posted by woolfc
I heard somewhere that Bennett I a Man Utd fan although I dont know if its true. But if it is indeed true then Im sure youre not allowed to referee the game in which your favoured club is playing in. It happened to the originally chosen ref in the FA Cup Final against West Ham, the referee was changed as the original one was a red.
Just thought Id bring this up as a cover up for a dissapointing day all round
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Refs don't have to declare which team they support, but they can be dropped for certain games if they're from the same area as one of the contesting teams. I seem to remember a referee from Merseyside who was pencilled in to referee a cup final that we were in some time in the last few years, but who had to stand down when we reached it, even though he was allegedly a blue (although a similar level of bias would probably have been involved).
Bennett shouldn't be dropped for being a Manc fan, if indeed he is. He should be dropped for being at best utterly incompetent and at worst on the take. Don't hold your breath though. In fact I suspect he'll have got himself to the top of the approved list of Old Trafford referees after today's performance.