By Henry Winter, Football Correspondent

Jose Mourinho will need more than a studio sofa after the Football Association’s 85-word rationale into why Ashley Barnes got away with almost breaking Nemanja Matic’s leg. The Chelsea manager will need a psychiatrist’s couch. The FA’s statement and attempted justification of Martin Atkinson’s failure to punish Barnes made dispiriting reading for all who want players protected, who believe that parts of the FA remain marooned in the 20th century.

It is deeply frustrating that the governing body cannot see that refereeing in this country is teetering towards crisis. Many players, managers and fans have just lost faith in English referees.

So here are those words in full, words that shame the FA and will surely lead to renewed calls for a shake-up of its disciplinary department and also for video technology to be introduced:

“The FA confirm no further action in relation to Ashley Barnes, as the incident was seen by the officials. In the vast majority of challenges for the ball, no retrospective action is taken as the incident has been seen by the match officials.

“Retrospective action was introduced as a deterrent for 'off the ball incidents’ committed out of sight of officials. The whole game is in agreement that, in the vast majority of cases, match officials are best placed to deal with incidents to avoid re-refereeing.”

As it stands, the FA is complicit in a miscarriage of justice. This is no witch‑hunt of Atkinson; this is a desire for the game to be refereed strongly and equably. The whole incident and unsatisfactory aftermath damages the reputation of English refereeing around the world. Burnley’s image as one of the cleaner sides in English football has taken a dent.

The FA’s claim that it can speak for “the whole game” is nonsensical and arrogant, while also ignoring the powerful sentiments expressed by two of England’s most iconic former internationals, Alan Shearer and Gary Lineker. Shearer described Barnes’s high tackle into Matic’s shin as “horrific” and “dangerous” while Lineker tweeted that “there has been some pony refereeing this weekend”.

^{Ashley Barnes's reckless challenge on Nemanja Matic Photo: SKY SPORTS}

And not just this weekend. Refereeing has undoubtedly become the 'impossible job’ of the modern era. The man in the middle has to keep pace with fitter, faster players, dealing with certain professionals for whom scruples is a nightclub. Managers bemoan decisions and campaigns. The media highlights mistakes, social media dissects them and former officials are frequently unforgiving in their verdicts. Referees need assistance, artificial and human.

Help could be at hand, albeit slowly. Among the items for discussion at this weekend’s meeting of the International Football Association Board, at the Culloden Hotel near Belfast, is “Video replay for match officials a. Feedback from the two Advisory Panels b. Discussion on potential options and subsequent steps”.

Howard Webb and the general manager of Professional Game Match Officials, Mike Riley, have assessed the experiment going on in Holland. Riley said of the Dutch that “they should be congratulated for the foresight on behalf of world football to say, 'How can we make this better?’ Because we can.” Because it is required. The travails of Riley’s refs confirm that.

Video technology is not a catch-all safety net; there are holes, there will be mistakes, but if a game awash with money at the most-scrutinised level cannot at least trial it, the vexed debate will roll on.

Sympathy for officials is dissipated by the reality that this is a very average crop of referees, something that the FA and Premier League refuse to accept. Even some of the most widely-respected referees, such as Mark Clattenburg, Michael Oliver and Mike Dean, have endured difficult moments this season. Atkinson, a regular on the Champions League circuit, erred badly on Saturday, leading to Mourinho’s Sunday sermon.

Every weekend brings more controversial incidents, more sulphurous headlines. The Premier League has yet to dispel the suspicion that it quite enjoys the deliberations, keeping its competition “trending” across the global news agenda. Last weekend was a particularly bad period for the officials. There was Kevin Friend’s mistake in not awarding Southampton a penalty for a trip by Liverpool’s Joe Allen on Filip Djuricic. Jon Moss should have punished West Ham’s Mark Noble, who was already cautioned for pulling Andros Townsend’s shirt, with a second yellow for bringing down Nabil Bentaleb.

Some refereeing needs lauding, such as Moss’s correct decision to penalise Alex Song for fouling Harry Kane and then allowing the ensuing penalty phase to conclude (with Kane finishing off the rebound after Adrian saved) before blowing for full-time.

Much of the weekend’s focus revolved around Atkinson’s failure to sanction Barnes for his gruesome challenge, an unpunished offence that sent Mourinho hurtling into orbit and landing in Sky’s studios. Mourinho set the agenda, ensuring all eyes would be on him, Chelsea and the aggrieved Matic.

Yet poor officiating afflicts much of football. Other clubs than Chelsea are affected. Other managers have a right to complain. Ask Steve Bruce how on earth Mourinho’s centre-half, Gary Cahill, stayed on against Hull following a bad tackle and then a dive. Ask Roberto Martínez how Branislav Ivanovic stayed on after his headlock on James McCarthy, the Everton midfielder.

Despite the number of incidents and legitimate managerial frustration, the Premier League argues that everything is fine. “Some people are saying, 'Refereeing is not as good as it was in my day’, so many years ago, but they are viewing it through rose-tinted glasses without coming up with any evidence,’’ a Premier League spokesman said. “Standards have been high and have been rising for a number of seasons. There is 99 per cent accuracy on offside decisions. There is 95 per cent accuracy on the major decisions. We are pretty much on a par with last season and we’ve lost Howard Webb, while Lee Probert has been out all season injured.”

The Premier League points out that £1 million was spent on coaching referees last season, that there is a team of coaches advising referees, including Webb, and that there is a full-time sports psychologist working to ensure they have the requisite mental strength. But they need help, they need a chance to ascertain whether there would be fewer injustices with video technology.