IFAB makes mistake by refusing tech upgrade
By John Leicester |
March 10, 2010, Wednesday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
OVER at FIFA headquarters, they should carve this motto above the door: Why annoy some people some of the time when you can infuriate just about everyone all of the time.
In ruling out further experiments on the use of technology to determine whether a goal has been scored, the guardians of football have made a bad mistake.
Call it Murphy's law, divine intervention or mere unfortunate coincidence, but soon after the International Football Association Board voted this weekend to stay in the technological Dark Ages, the extent of the rule-makers' folly was exposed by a goal dispute in England's FA Cup.
Had the technology been in use, then a ball with an embedded chip could have sent the message "Goal" or an earpiece beep to referee Steve Bennett when Liam Ridgewell's header for Birmingham crossed Portsmouth's line.
Without a long and tiresome hold-up in play and without anyone in the crowd or on the pitch even having to know that he got a computerized helping hand, Bennett could have awarded the goal that would have cut Portsmouth's lead to 2-1, with some 10 minutes left to play.
But instead, match officials didn't keep up with the action, as is too often the case. Bennett, forced to rely on nothing more than human eyesight, ruled it was not a goal. He was made to look incompetent by TV replays which subsequently showed the ball crossing the line before Portsmouth goalkeeper David James blocked it.
Let's hope now that a similar mistake mars the final of the World Cup on July 11. FIFA and the other IFAB members who refuse goal-line technology would have a far harder time justifying their blinkered approach if the outcome of soccer's showcase tournament is determined by yet another avoidable refereeing mistake.
As sad as it would be to see the World Cup won undeservedly, it could be a necessary evil if it forces the IFAB to reconsider. Only such a huge embarrassment, in front of a global television audience of hundreds of millions, could perhaps do the trick.
At the very least, referees should not be missing goals or awarding them when the ball did not cross the line. For the IFAB to claim that it wants to help referees, while at the same time ruling out further experimentation with goal-line technologies that could stop them from making the most elementary mistake, makes no sense.
In ruling out further experiments on the use of technology to determine whether a goal has been scored, the guardians of football have made a bad mistake.
Call it Murphy's law, divine intervention or mere unfortunate coincidence, but soon after the International Football Association Board voted this weekend to stay in the technological Dark Ages, the extent of the rule-makers' folly was exposed by a goal dispute in England's FA Cup.
Had the technology been in use, then a ball with an embedded chip could have sent the message "Goal" or an earpiece beep to referee Steve Bennett when Liam Ridgewell's header for Birmingham crossed Portsmouth's line.
Without a long and tiresome hold-up in play and without anyone in the crowd or on the pitch even having to know that he got a computerized helping hand, Bennett could have awarded the goal that would have cut Portsmouth's lead to 2-1, with some 10 minutes left to play.
But instead, match officials didn't keep up with the action, as is too often the case. Bennett, forced to rely on nothing more than human eyesight, ruled it was not a goal. He was made to look incompetent by TV replays which subsequently showed the ball crossing the line before Portsmouth goalkeeper David James blocked it.
Let's hope now that a similar mistake mars the final of the World Cup on July 11. FIFA and the other IFAB members who refuse goal-line technology would have a far harder time justifying their blinkered approach if the outcome of soccer's showcase tournament is determined by yet another avoidable refereeing mistake.
As sad as it would be to see the World Cup won undeservedly, it could be a necessary evil if it forces the IFAB to reconsider. Only such a huge embarrassment, in front of a global television audience of hundreds of millions, could perhaps do the trick.
At the very least, referees should not be missing goals or awarding them when the ball did not cross the line. For the IFAB to claim that it wants to help referees, while at the same time ruling out further experimentation with goal-line technologies that could stop them from making the most elementary mistake, makes no sense.
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