Video Ref
- Posted on January 22, 2007 5:23 PM
- 0 comments
by Matt Killeen
So it happened again. A disallowed goal, red card and off-side decision that affects the run-in of the Premiership. At least one manager managed to look like a spoilt child despite trying to dress up his tantrum as concern for players' careers, clubs' seasons and the good of the game in general. There's too much money at stake now, so isn't it time for some kind of technology? People rang 606 and Alan Green fanned the flames of ire. When is something going to be done?
I am writing this on Thursday and the week-end of football I'm describing is two days away, yet I can happily type away knowing that this article is going to be relevant by next week. The game should not be this predictable in any respect, but it is.
Leaving aside the fact that most managers, players and pundits are woefully ignorant of the laws of the game or that you can't have common-sense and consistency, goal-line technology and in-game video replays are football's reddest herrings. FIFA tried special balls and goal-line cameras and found them to be unworkable - anyone in IT could have told you that no such system could be reliable enough. As for video replays, history has a salutary lesson for those who believe everything they see.
At the 1998 World Cup, Norway were given a vital penalty for what everyone was certain was a dive. Look at the incident in slo-mo, everyone cried, if only something could be done. It was well over 24 hours before an obscure film crew showed what the ref had seen, that the striker had been pulled over by his shirt. This angle was unavailable to the main broadcaster and could not have been used to determine the veracity of the decision. If camera footage cannot be trusted at a World Cup for god's sake, what chance the Premiership? How long will players sit around waiting for the result, muscles seizing up? How long would matches last?
In fact, the game is actually all the sweeter for those questionable decisions. Would we still remember the Chesterfield v. Middlesbrough semi-final in such detail if goal-line technology had given the lead to the Spirites at that critical moment? So bad were both defences that day that another goal would not have necessarily settled the match. The replay was error free and eminently forgettable.
Even the fey, simpering FA know that the principle of a game that is unchanged from park to stadium is sacrosanct, otherwise it's not a sport anymore. They might as well make the goals bigger or introduce a second ball. This is just the kind of rule bending that might get you a European Super League.
All of this works on a false assumption, of course. It is not bad referees that lose matches, it is bad players, or rather good players making bad mistakes. Missed shots or bad refereeing can't ruin the game, it is the game. Like playing lots of games at Xmas or having to be in at least three competitions every year. Like playing more matches if you win trophies or playing in your national league.
Just once it would make a refreshing change for the ref to appear on Match of the Day 'disappointed' at the six missed shots and saying that 'this kind of thing costs teams points'. When will teams practice?
Post a comment
TrackBack
TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.seatwaveblogs.com/cgi-bin/mt/mt-tb.cgi/283
