Chelsea make annual donation to The FA for refereeing improvement

Professional Premier League referee Lee Mason had himself another non-World-Cup-standard day last week, when he officiated the 1-1 draw between Chelsea and Huddersfield Town.

At half-time, right after he blew the whistle just as Willian was about to take a corner, he was surrounded by a few Blue shirts who wanted to undoubtedly congratulate him for a job so well done (and implore him to not curtail Huddersfield’s efforts at time-wasting under any circumstances before the 89th minute).

Aided and abetted by frustrations at their own miserly play, the Chelsea players and staff were deemed to be a bit overbearing in their efforts to recognize Mason’s excellence and have thusly earned a fine for Chelsea Football Club. Twenty large, says The FA, after the club accepted last week’s charge.

It’s a fine we’re fairly familiar with. Basically an annual donation to The FA these days (sometimes more, when Mourinho’s in charge, for example), which The FA clearly puts to good use in helping to train and improve the standard of refereeing. How else can we explain these increasingly stellar showings by the good people of the PGMOL?