The debate regarding how much more of a dive Eduardo's was than Rooney's simulation in Arsenal’s most recent game has been in full swing and of course Rooney did not dive, he just went down early. We endlessly debate why referees allow us to be kicked all over the pitch at Old Trafford and why we forever seem to receive harsher sentencing that other teams etc, etc. I have for years struggled to explain to all who will listen why Arsenal are different to all the other clubs, then we had the Eduardo saga and just recently Chelsea are in big trouble with FIFA and UEFA and suddenly it became a lot easier to explain.

In the current football structure if you drew up an organizing tree it would start FIFA at the top then UEFA and then I suppose the various national associations around the world. Whatever, that is how the organizing bodies would want the world to believe was the way it worked.

The truth is no fan of football cares too much for anything Blatter or Platini says, it is the Premier League worldwide that the fans want and the French and German axis hate it! It was not meant to be like this, Sky could in tandem with the top Premier League clubs and a few of Europe's top clubs conquer the world and let’s be honest it could still happen.

The battle between FIFA and the Premier League clubs is for me a similar example to that of Arsenal and the domestic football bodies. To fully understand you really need to read Bernard Joy's excellent book "Forward Arsenal". He gets to the heart of what Arsenal meant to football, we invented modern football. Joy states that before Arsenal (under Herbert Chapman) came along football was a "cloth cap game" like rugby league was before it was overhauled. Arsenal overhauled football, we did for the game what the FA and Football League should have done but did not have the imagination or the far-sighted overview that the Arsenal club possessed.

I can list all the firsts we came up with but it would take too long and anyway all Gooners know our wonderful heritage (OK so Mr. Norris was a bit devious but hey, everyone needs a leg up), suffice to say that with our Marble Halls and underfloor heated changing rooms, Art Deco stands, all overseen by the commissionaire standing ramrod straight guarding the front entrance. My father's favourite story is after we appointed a lord to the board of directors, Blackpool visited and upon entering the hallowed halls one of the players glibly asked the commissionaire "Is his lordship attending today's game" turning to the rest of the players milking the laugher our uniformed representative quietly inform him and with a deadpan face "No sir, his lordship only attends important matches"

We made ourselves a target for the rest of football by daring to raise football out of its working class roots and making it a fashionable game - the place to be seen was at Highbury. What Sky and the Taylor report have done today for football Arsenal did in the thirties. Arsenal became different from any other club but as embarrassing as we were to the authorities, nothing hurt them more than when we started winning championships. Championships were for not for southern teams, we were there to make the numbers up.

Something I never understood about my father was he would always want a southern team to win, he would even support "the Spuds" against any team north of Watford and my father was not a narrow-minded individual with a colloquial mindset. He was born in Holland and travelled the world in the merchant navy, but he always felt the dice were heavily loaded against southern teams, in particular his beloved Arsenal and cited our unparalleled success in the 30's as the root of the Football League's anti-Arsenal stance.

Much like today, with Blatter and Platini trying to undermine the Premier League by singling out English teams, the football authorities of yesteryear could not stomach our "Brylcream Boys" at any price and it has stuck. In the 30's we dared to rise not just to the equal of the football mandarins but we exceeded them and have been paying the price ever since. And as in mythology, if you upset the gods you are punished interminably.

The Mancs were singled out by the FA to represent our World Cup aspirations and the rewards for giving up the FA Cup for one year have been huge. Ferguson knows that he can get away with more than any other manager because his club have been given FA approval status and you must admit he has exploited that position brilliantly, indeed to the point that referees seek Ferguson's approval and control the game accordingly.

I would think the building of the new Wembley is just another example of Arsenal's ability to see through a project correctly (forget our financial problems with Highbury Square). Wembley was way over budget and hopelessly late and with many build quality issues, The Grove was on time and to budget and to a very high build standard, whatever we think of our board on this matter they played a blinder! Wembley was a huge embarrassment to the FA and more so again as just a few miles further into London, Arsenal showed the Soho suits how to do the job properly.

So the next time Sepp and Michel create another rule change to hit the Premier League with, don't expect the FA to support its members because as in all politics a huge carrot is being dangled in front of Lord Triesman and his board members - the 2018 World Cup, and that bid goes right to Westminster. Lord Triesman also proposed that the person leading this bid should receive extra monies on top of their current salary, so rocking this boat with FIFA is a non starter.

What I think the supine FA will do when FIFA or UEFA dream up another raft of changes is support them, providing it hits Arsenal, cue Eduardo. (As much as I dislike them, you could include Chelsea in this conspiracy but they deserve what they are being hit with, we do not)

Am I paranoid? Of course. Barking mad? Maybe. But before dismissing my rantings just watch the 50th game of our unbeaten run and Mr. Dean's refereeing last week, then decide.