However, in the multibillion-pound inheritance stakes, match officials are always the poor, misunderstood, oddball cousins who are conveniently left out. The EPL provides £130 million annually into grassroots development. "The money we are putting into the grass roots is never enough," said Scudamore, who does not see the EPL as a charity.

Instead, Scudamore wants the FA and the government to invest more in facilities, rather than relying on EPL coffers. "The urban areas of Britain aren't well served. There are lots of young people living in high-density accommodation without an escape through football which is why our clubs are trying to do their bit through their community schemes. We can only do so much," said Scudamore.

Notice there is not one phrase in support of the development of referees. This practice of ignoring match officials occurs not only in England, but all over the world. Referees are mostly left out of development plans and, if included, are usually only there as an afterthought. This has to stop.

Considering the time and effort clubs, commentators, players, coaches, spectators and the media spend in complaining about refereeing standards, it does not take a genius to understand referees need better resources, training and support. As it stands, with the amount of criticism levelled at referees together with the high dropout rates owing to abuse and lack of support, it is a miracle a major refereeing crisis has not yet materialised.

But it is getting close. Recently, referees chief Mike Riley, head of the Professional Game Match Officials Ltd (PGMOL), publicly appealed for support to his beleaguered group of professional referees by asking for the introduction of video technology.

"I think football as a whole has to look at how we can enhance refereeing performances through the use of technology," Riley said. "We've been open-minded to things like the goal-decision system, which has made a great difference and a great benefit to referees in the Premier League. We need to see what other technology can be used to get refereeing decisions more accurate."

Riley's desperate cry for help highlights how serious the anti-refereeing culture is.

Ultimately, however, the money-for-quick-fix method is not the long-term solution. Referees at the grass roots need better training, development and support, and, of course, more money. However, at the Premiership level of refereeing, money is not the main problem. The PGMOL has an annual budget of around £11 million, which comes from the FA, the EPL and the Championship. This is used to pay for a group of 18 full-time referees as well as subsidising training and mentoring programmes for another 79 referees and 249 assistant referees.

There is no question technology - such as multiway communications systems, beeper flags, goal-decision systems and video technology - can help referees make better decisions. But buying the tools for the cream of the crop is a profligate mindset that, at best, papers over the cracks.

An analogy is when rich clubs like Chelsea, Manchester City and any of the traditionally frugal Premiership clubs who now find themselves with surplus pots of money find it easier to spend money on quick-fix solutions rather than developing promising home-grown youngsters.

The advantages of nurturing home-grown talent in favour of buying the latest finished product can be seen with Harry Kane, Tottenham's surprise striker of the season, and his £26 million counterpart Roberto Soldado and Chelsea's £32 million Diego Costa.

Similarly, refereeing needs to adopt this basic principle.

Depending on who you are, the EPL billions are either a blessing or a curse. For referees, it has consistently been a curse.