This is UEFA telling Riley to get his house in order. Basically telling UEFA referees to protect all players, so the flair players can do their stuff in a safe environment. What can be worse for example, for someone like Dungodan with his injury record, running with the ball knowing that hackers have full licence to recklessly bring him down from behind, at the risk of a caution at worst? It must affect his game.
If Riley doesn’t get his act together, his referees won’t be going to any more World Cup or UEFA tournaments. They have already lost out on the WC this year, and they can’t be happy with that. If they have any professional integrity, they themselves should be talking to Riley about this, or even ignoring his weak leadership and going it alone.
Riley’s days as Head of PGMOL must be numbered. When was the last time he made a public statement so that the footballing community could scrutinise the actions of this charges, and call them to account? It just doesn’t happen.