Football has the techology to silence the unacceptable rants from Sir Alex Ferguson. It is time it used it Ferguson went on to claim that Beck had a "history" with United, citing his failure to rule out an offside Didier Drogba goal for Chelsea in 2010, in a crucial match that cost United the league. "There was no way we were going to get a decision from [Beck]," the manager said. No wonder the Football Association has asked him to explain his comments. If it feels that what he said amounted to a questioning of the linesman's integrity, it will take disciplinary action against him. Even if he is not found to have done anything wrong this time, the example Ferguson sets of criticising officialdom is becoming part of the ugliest face of football. It may be part and parcel of his will to win, but the sight of him haranguing referees and their assistants is deeply unattractive. He is not alone in it, but because he is so dominant as a manager, the mark of his behaviour cuts very deep. Yet he must know, in his quieter moments, that contested incidents are part of the game. Officials in football have to make their decisions at speed and under pressure; they are human, so they sometimes err. The Drogba goal was - replays showed - offside; the Rooney penalty claim on Sunday was less clear-cut. Yet these are only two moments in the thousands of split-second calls that Beck has made in the two years that separate them. The problem for football is that its long-standing resistance to technological help for match officials makes this kind of controversy likely to continue. Goal-line technology, which will prove whether a ball has actually crossed the line, has been approved for trial by the International Football Association Board and Premier League clubs are said to want to try it out. But it is expensive and complicated to implement, and will solve only one set of problems. Contested goals - though dramatic - are relatively rare; it is the action in and around the penalty box that causes most difficulties. Football has so far turned its face against the idea of any referral system to a video referee, preferring to keep the excitement and unreliability of real people standing in the mud and snow making the best call they can. This stance is unlikely to survive. If a sending off, such as that of Manchester City's Vincent Kompany for his fierce but entirely fair tackle the other week, can be reversed by post-match video evidence, then it is increasingly hard to argue against the use of instant replays in the course of the game. A referral system, such as that used in cricket or tennis, might actually become part of the tempo of the contest - certainly it would give everyone a chance to calm down. But in the meantime managers such as Ferguson and virtually every player who pulls on a pair of boots should think of this before they dissent: cricket's umpire decision review system still has its critics, but its value lies in the fact that it seems to show that umpires are right as often as they are wrong. It has not led to the undermining of their authority, but rather it has become part of the system in which they operate. In cricket, people do make mistakes, but they are still respected and valued. In football, referees are under constant pressure, and held in contempt. It is courageous of them to make any judgment at all. Every time Sir Alex Ferguson argues against them, he undermines the game he loves.