How can the FA claim to be serious about cracking down on bad tackles when football’s governing body says that it cannot upgrade Ashley Cole’s yellow card to a red? Cole deserved to be sent off for his foul on Alan Hutton on Wednesday, but the FA claims that it is unable to act because the referee, Mike Riley, saw the incident.

That rule should be changed. It seems crazy to be so selective in the use of video replays, to decide that there are some circumstances in which refereeing mistakes can be rectified but not others. Why do disciplinary panels have the power to rescind red cards, but not to award them? Video evidence should be a tool to eradicate inconsistency, but too often it exaggerates it. Damning footage is replayed all over the media but the authorities fail to change decisions that look wrong in hindsight.

The difference between Cole’s tackle and that of Martin Taylor on Eduardo in the Birmingham City v Arsenal game was the consequence for the opponent. Hutton is fine, Eduardo had his ankle broken. These contrasting outcomes were a matter of luck and millimetres, yet Cole received just a yellow card; Taylor got a red, huge criticism, a three-match ban and Sepp Blatter, the Fifa president, expressing interest in extending his punishment.

If football’s authorities are as keen on stopping fouls as they say they are, they should realise that widespread use of video evidence would have a big impact. If Fifa wanted to, it could review dozens of bad tackles from the world’s leagues every month, all of them worse than Taylor’s. Players would be extra careful knowing that Big Brother was watching them.

The problem is that pressure from elsewhere dilutes the ability of officials to make a decision. They will judge challenges not by gut reaction and experience but by second-guessing what a video panel may make of it days later. Another issue is that referees will lose credibility if their on-the-spot decisions are constantly altered. An official’s career could become as brief as a player’s if he is found to be making so many mistakes that his position is untenable.

So there needs to be a balance between the use of replays to bring about justice and preserve the authority of officials during matches. The answer is not necessarily to use video evidence more often, but to use it more wisely. There should be a panel of former professionals from different generations who hand out punishment for tackles with serious malicious intent. Why not give seven or even ten-match bans for dangerous challenges? At the moment, some players get more than they deserve; others, less.