Both finals refs dropped

Rotation ... Jarred Gillett won't referee a preliminary final. Source: George Salpigtidis / News Limited

Football Federation Australia will undertake a review of the A-League refereeing structure at the end of the season as the fallout from last week's opening finals matches claimed prominent whistleblowers Jarred Gillett and Chris Beath.

Gillett, who handled the Melbourne Victory v Perth Glory game last Friday, and Beath, who controlled the Adelaide United v Brisbane Roar match two days later, were not considered for this week's grand final qualifiers after they were found to have made errors that sparked controversy. 

Gillett missed a handball in the lead-up to awarding a penalty to Victory that helped the Victorians level at 1-1 against Perth in the last minute, enabling Victory to eventually win 2-1 in extra time.

Beath failed to send off two players - Roar's Stefan Nijland and Adelaide's Tom Juric - for over-the-ball tackles that should have earned instant red cards.  

While A-League boss Damien de Bohun said Gillett and Beath had not been ruled out of contention to handle the grand final on April 21, he revealed they had been stood down from refereeing the Western Sydney v Brisbane Glory and Central Coast v Melbourne Victory semi-finals on Friday and Sunday respectively. 

"The referees have worked hard and done a good job all year under difficult circumstances but are accountable like players, like coaches, so where obvious errors are made, then they will miss out," de Bohun said.

Asked if he was concerned about the standard of refereeing in the A-League, de Bohun said he believed it had improved, but needed to get better.

"There will be a review at the end of the season," he said.

"Refereeing is one of the areas that has improved but the standard of the A-League is improving at a faster rate."

Referees boss Ben Wilson told The Australian Beath and Gillett got critical decisions wrong.

"In terms of the Adelaide v Brisbane Roar game, I had a discussion with the referee (Beath) and we both agreed the two players should have been given red cards," Wilson said.

"As for the penalty to Melbourne Victory, my view is that the contact on (Victory defender) Steve Pantelidis was sufficient to award the penalty. However, from all the camera angles available, it is clear there was a handball in the lead-up, which the referee was unable to see because his view was blocked."

Wilson said Gillett had refereed Perth four times this season and there had been no issue.

"I have no issue with him refereeing Perth in the future. He will be appointed as we see fit and that may include Perth games."

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