Joe Fitzpatrick 
Yes fellow Gooners, that time of the season is fast approaching when we will all be asking the same questions.
Is the current squad good enough?
Are the board spending our hard earned money in the right manner?
Is Arsene Wenger still the right man for our club?
The questions that no one really seems to be asking themselves are;
1) Do Arsenal really get a fair crack of the whip as far as referees are concerned?
And, 2) Should there be an investigation into the decisions that have gone against us this season?
I'm not saying that Arsene Wenger or this current squad are perfect, far from it, but do they really have a fair chance in the league if there is a human bias in favour of Manchester United? Is this why video technology is really being delayed in our sport because once it is in place, there will be less chance for corrupt or biased officials to influence games?
If you are one of those people now thinking "sore loser" or "conspiracy theorist", bear with me, as the great Rafa Benitez once said, "I deal only in facts" here.
The year is 1994, Olympic Marseilles have just been found to be at the centre of a match fixing scandal that shook French football to its very foundations. As a direct result of this scandal known in France as l'affaire VA-OM, Olympic Marseilles were stripped of their 1992-93 division title and the right to play in the Champions League 1993-94.
After our away game to Porto in last season’s champions league I found Wenger’s comments very interesting to say the least. He said on the referee after we were beaten 2-1, "I believe that he is incompetent or dishonest - but I prefer to think that he is incompetent. I always am reluctant because, when you start to think like that in my job, you become paranoid. And I have seen much worse in my life - my own players were bought by opponents. And I didn't become paranoid."
Monaco were beaten by a Marseille side in 1990-91 who went on to win the title. And reports in France suggested certain players had been got at, although no names ever surfaced. If Wenger is still worried about his rivals practicing the blackest of all the dark arts, my question to you my fellow Gooners is - why shouldn't we be worried too?
Before I state my case any further let me bring this a bit more up to date by suggesting that anyone who hasn't already done so checks out the vast amounts of information on the 2006 Italian match fixing scandal involving several top clubs. A brief search online will tell you that referees were definitely involved, and were appointed only if they were of a favourable persuasion. The corruption went so deep that their very own version of ‘Match of the Day’ was asked to present certain teams in a favourable light. As you all know this scandal resulted in the relegation of several clubs and heavy fines and points deductions.
My question to you my fellow Gooners is, if this was possible in France AND Italy then who are we to say it is impossible in our very own league?
An interview with former top referee Jeff Winter recently should open your eyes up to the fact that it could well be happening. He said, "The FA have been accused of lacking what it takes to deal with the big names and big clubs - it happened again after Rooney got away with elbowing James McCarthy - and they need to grow a pair and make an example of Fergie. He got a £20,000 fine and a two-match ban with another two matches suspended for his remarks about Alan Wiley last season. The suspended part of that sentence does not run out until the end of this season. So you have to feel a four-match ban is the absolute minimum he should receive this time. And the authorities should add a warning that if he slags off a referee again, we will be talking months not matches for any future ban. Here you have a manager questioning an official's integrity, not for the first time, and they have to throw the book at him for that."
Winter claimed this was another example of Fergie trying to "de-select" a referee, knowing the authorities would be reluctant to give more United matches to officials he criticised. His own final game before retirement was to take charge of the 2004 FA Cup final between Manchester United and Millwall. But there was a time when he knew United were "off limits".
He explained: "Very early in my Premier League career I sent Roy Keane off and incurred Fergie's wrath for doing so. In the course of the next two seasons I did not get a single Manchester United game, even though I refereed every other Premier League club at least five or six times. I was not afraid to stand up to him and I think he knew that. With his latest remarks, Fergie has probably de-selected Martin Atkinson for the potential title decider with Arsenal."
Well, well, well. Very interesting stuff but should Alex Ferguson have this kind of an influence?
Should Alex Ferguson be that much in a referee’s thinking that he has to stand up to him like a playground bully?
Should Alex Ferguson be "de-selecting" referees?
What has happened to Wayne Rooney over his off the ball elbow last week?
How many of us half jokingly refer to injury time in games where Manchester united are in a tight spot as "Fergie time"?
Look at some other decisions that have gone Manchester United’s way this year (such as Howard Webb's refereeing of the Liverpool game that resulted in Ryan Babel hilariously posting a picture of Webb in a Manchester United shirt!) and then take a look at some of the decisions against us recently.
Of course I'm talking about the offside Louis Saha goal given against us at home to Everton (which prompted Cesc Fabregas to allegedly shout "how much are they paying you?” at the ref), the shocking decisions in the 4-4 horror show at Newcastle and the refusal to give Arshavin a penalty or allow his onside goal to stand against Sunderland.
If our players and our manager think that football could be corrupt in this country then I'm left wondering why I pay thousands of pounds a year to follow a team that may be unable to compete on a level playing field with the likes of Manchester United.
Even at home we are liable to have massive decisions given against us while other teams seem to get the rub of the green on more than their fair share of occasions.
All I'm saying is that it warrants some kind of investigation, not just for Arsenal but for all the fans around the country who pay good money only to see their Saturday ruined by incompetent or possibly corrupt refereeing.
