FIFA Rejects Technology

Why am I not surprised by this?

International Board Rejects Using Technology

On the same day as Birmingham had a perfectly good goal not given against Portsmouth!

I knew these proposals were in jeopardy when I read this yesterday,

http://sports.yahoo.com/soccer/news?slug=a...ov=ap&type=lgns

This is bollocks. How does an extra set of eyes hurt things? And the primary referee's role is undermined by getting more information? Absolute nonsense.

Sometimes this sport is living in the past, there is nothing wrong with using technology or an extra set of eyes to help make sure decisions in important games are made correctly. Tennis, basketball and American football have all incorporated technology and/or added additional officials for major competitions to make sure the correct calls are made and those have not in any way undermined the authority of those sports' officials. Plus those changes have not been implemented at the lower level of the sport , only at the top, thus you do not see those replays to see if a ball has landed inside or outside of a line at the Riga, Latvia Open but it is used at Wimbledon, you do not have a referee in a high school basketball game reviewing a TV tape to see if a shot left the shooters hand before the buzzer sounded but you will see that in an NBA game, in American football, the refs won't review a TV replay to see if a player's foot landed inside or out of the field of play in a minor league game but they will do that in the NFL.

The higher the stakes of the game, the more pressure there is to make sure the right call is made, that can be done with technology and/or additional officials but these dinosaurs at the International Board and with FIFA are still living in the past.

Old men still living in the 1950s! They are probably shocked by this color TV!

And so did Newell's against Godoy Cruz in Argentina. Click on "video" on this link to see what should have been a goal by Jorge Achucarro of Newell's,

http://www.ole.clarin.com/notas/2010/03/08...l/02154551.html

I do not see what is wrong in using video replays in certain situations. I think I would limit it to determining whether a goal has been scored or not and a few other situations. It should not be used on every offside call or to determine if a handball was intentional or not. Maybe it could be used if there was an issue if a foul occurred inside or outside of the penalty area. Merengue's point about it only would be used at the highest levels of the sport is right. Now most major leagues around the world have the 3 officials on the field and the 4th on the sideliens conncted by headset. Those leagues then have the technology to use video replays to see if, as in today's Newell's-Godoy Cruz or yesterday's Portsmouth-Birmingham game, a goal was scored or not. It does not have to be used in the 2nd division of Liberia or the Mongolian 1st division, but at the upper echelons, I see nothing wrong in using technology to make sure the right call was made. Actually rather than undermining the officials authority, it should increase it, as they will be ensuring the correct call was made.

An opinion piece which reflects my views on this rejection of using technology,

Soccer’s guardians score own-goal on technology

From the opinion piece valenciano linked,

Very well said. There are certain calls which are within the discretion of a referee or linesman (i.e. whether a penalty was committed, or not) and we may not like those at times but it is within their discretion. But whether a goal was scored or not, should not be discretionary, so I fully agree this is an occasion where video technology should be used and this rejection of it is a very disappointing development.

And Sepp Blatter weighs in on the issue with more misguided musings,

http://sports.yahoo.com/soccer/news?slug=a...ov=ap&type=lgns

Blatter wants the same rules to apply at every level of football—from professional to amateur games.

Blatter favors keeping decisions in the hands of humans, saying that even computer evidence can be disputed

We posters make much more sense on these issues than Blatter. It sounds so egalitarian to say the World Cup Final should have the exact same rules as a a 2nd division Bolivian league game but reality tells us they are not the same and the idea that a goal which should have stood, or vice versa, would not be given in a game as important as a World Cup because of not relying on video technology is just stubborn foolishness.

Soccer is in a lot of ways similar to baseball in its heritage and how the sport is still very well connected to its past. Other sports in North America like basketball or American Football are less tied to their past and thus I think each is much more open to changing the sport to meet the expectations fans now have being able to see replays from multiple angles. They also are more open to making tweaks in the rules to make the game more appealing. But soccer, like baseball, relishes its history and thinks a sport which has been so popular for so long does not need fixing. That attitude is I think short sighted.

Sammy that is an excellent point, soccer is a sport, like baseball, with srong attachments to its past which may help explain why both sports have been much less resistant to make changes, not only to the rules of how the sport is played but also in adapting modern technology to it.

Michel Platini, the president of UEFA has come out and said if technology won't be used he is in favor of adapting more referees.

http://sports.yahoo.com/soccer/news?slug=a...ov=ap&type=lgns

“Referees today unfortunately don’t see everything on the field,” Platini said. “Either we add referees or we use (replay). I’m for the human option.

“We should try to add a referee so they can see the entire field. Whether they make mistakes or not is another discussion.”

Platini pushed for UEFA to experiment with five officials for Europa League matches this season. Initial trials were in UEFA youth tournaments last season.

Soccer’s rule-making body will review progress when it meets in Zurich in May, but FIFA has said no changes will be introduced before the World Cup

I read awhile back where Pierluigi Collina was in favor of using technology to help referees. His argument was everybody else uses video technology to analyse and criticize the officials so why not make that same technology available to them too!

As for Platini's suggestion, it is an alternative, to me a less attractive one but better than the current system.

I think that is an accurate commentary Sammy but Collina's point is well taken and goes along with what many of us have said, the sport at the highest levels needs to make sure the calls are right, sure the human element will still remain with most decisions and probbaly should stay that way but there are situations, notably whether a goal has been scored or not where technology could help the referees make the correct call. And not using the existing technology is not only short sighted but is simply being stubborn.

Referees today unfortunately don’t see everything on the field,” Platini said. “Either we add referees or we use (replay). I’m for the human option.

“We should try to add a referee so they can see the entire field. Whether they make mistakes or not is another discussion.”

The International Board have decided to let the 5 official experiment used this season in the Europa League continue for two more years and now it sounds as if any league which wnats t experiment and use the 5 officials may do so,

FIFA extends trials with 5 match officials

Other significant news from this International Board meeting:

1) The 4th official now officially has the authority to help the onfield officials with their decisions. This was done unofficially before;

2) The "paradinha" as they call it in Brasil, stopping just before you kick a penalty in order to deceive the goalie is now no longer permitted. A player can still stutter step on their approach to taking a PK but not just before striking the ball. Good idea but it sounds as if this may take some time to properly implement.

Each of these last two rules will be in effect in the World Cup.