So the World Cup fever is starting to subside and the unavoidable after effects are taking place. England’s early exit was a huge disappointment for fans but that somber mood could have been pure bitter anger had the game have swung on England’s second goal which was disallowed by the referee.
After the game, fans meekly tried to insist that the result would have been different had the second goal been called in, the reality is that the boys in red were outclassed by a much more organised, efficient German team. Some even saw this as a positive, because, had the score remained 2-1 to the Germans in lieu of England’s equalizer, the sport would have been brought into disrepute.
Sep Blatter, FIFA president finally conceded two weeks after the game that goal-line technology needed to be implemented to safeguard against similar debacles in the future and bring football up to the level of other sports that have used technology to great effect for years now. Cameras on the goal-line are an obvious choice but other techniques suggested are a unified communications network between the officials allowing lightning fast negotiations to keep the game flowing.
With regards to the specific technology used, Voice Over IP Phone headsets have been suggested for their ease of use and ability to host multiple conversations at once. This way the referee would have instant access to communications with linesmen. There are some naysayers who champion the theory that such technology would slow the pace of the game, but in sports like tennis which use the Cyclops device , player disputes with umpires have been greatly reduced which actually serves to keep the action going.
All it takes is a camera set on the goal-line and an IP Phone system for officials, ease of implementation and cost is hardly an issue considering the millions of pounds circulating in English football currently. While Blatter has insisted that the sport retain as much of it’s tradition as possible with the Premireship being no different to Sunday league football, players’ overblown wages surely undermine this argument.
The sport needs to embrace technological advances and quickly, there are far too many instances of clear goals being disallowed with potentially catastrophic consequences. Football is mired in the past and technology is the only thing that can drag it out. Let us all pray that Blatter sees sense, at least before the next World Cup.
