If this World Cup is to be remembered for anything, so far it will be for the standard of its officiating, if things carry on at the rate of the first four matches.

It's a catalog of mistakes that risk being added to at a remarkable rate.

Fred's, ahem, "penalty" in the opening game set the tone. It was dubious at best and the result of a conspiracy theory involving Sao Paulo's million-strong Japanese community influencing the Japanese ref in Brazil's favor at worst. It was clearly a bad decision. Contact was minimal and Fred put in an Oscar winning performance depending on who you listen to. The decision swung the game back in Brazil's favor but luckily the decisive goal was Oscar's, to end the game 3-1.

The two goals that never were in the Mexico game were something much more worrying than an iffy penalty. Offside is a pretty clear-cut rule, even with the cloud of what constitutes interfering with play hanging over it. It is also the only thing that linesmen need to really be able to do. Their other main roles of flagging which way a throw-in is going and looking down the byline at a corner are fairly simple and less important. Offside is where they should get it right and twice the so-called assistant referee got it very wrong. It could have cost Mexico, but thankfully they managed to score a goal that wasn't questioned and get their three points.

Another penalty call in the Spain game has been hotly debated. Was Diego Costa fouled? Did he cunningly play for the fall by wrapping his foot around the defender? The decision looked correct at the moment, the referee only gets one look at it, after all, but it's been scrutinized relentlessly since. Again, the decision - right or wrong - did not affect the result. However, the bigger error in the game came when the officials missed Costa's head butt of Bruno Martins Indi and failing to penalize Nigel de Jong for his elbow on Sergio Busquets.

Even the England game had its admittedly soft penalty shouts, about which the media is sure to rage on, regardless of legitimacy.

Human error is a part of the game, from both players and officials alike. It has long been a part of it and the game is richer for it. Managers always explain how it all evens out over a season. That's not a luxury that anyone enjoys at the World Cup.

What's the answer to this? Something needs to be done. Video replays would ruin the flow of the game and would not necessarily provide a clear-cut answer in any case. Retroactive punishment could cut out some of the diving that is making the job much tougher for the officials if it was severe enough. The debate will rage on and intensify as the tournament narrows down.

Maybe the sensible thing would be to remember a time when refereeing was as bad, if not worse, but each wrong decision was not instantly the focus of every avenue of social media.