When Rugby embraced sensibility and technology, people applauded its courage and belief that in order for Rugby and Sport in general to advance, then introducing technology was a step forward. When other sport’s followed suit, they too were applauded for looking at the most sensible options and ultimately deciding that the future could start there and then, not later.
Football decided that the future could wait. Hiding behind a facade that the technology was not there, it turned its back and looked in the opposite direction. However, football did not expect the sporting world to turn and look as well, albeit in the other direction, the direction where the bright new future was looking back.
So now Football stands in disarray. Hiding further behind statements of intent, letters of discontent and grumblings from the top brass of English Football, whilst making sweet overtures to the media from time to time that Football is ready to embrace the 21st Century.
It sounds so easy doesn’t it? Implement goal-line technology into Football and it’ll be saved. However this easy step is muddied by so many things. Football is governed by 1 Organisation, which has other smaller organisations control sections of the Football World. The F.A control English Football, U.E.F.A controls European Football and finally the buck stops with F.I.F.A., whom control World Football on an International level. This is where it becomes complicated.
F.A want football technology and have recommended that it should be implemented into televised games (however a large majority of televised games in the U.K are from the Premiership and they are governed by the Premier League, who have said that they don’t want it), U.E.F.A have said that there isn’t a sufficient system in place to do that and have decided against the European games having the technology. This is largely to do with Michel Platini, whom is hell bent on putting football firmly back in the 80’s. And finally we are left with FIFA, who put goal-line trials on ice last year because of arguments over pricing, reliability and sufficient support for the idea. Which to me sounds like FIFA decided that it was just too much hassle.
My point being, it is far too hard just to say that goal-line technology should be introduced, because nobody who governs the game can actually agree as to whether it actually exists…..but surely there is a solution.
Maybe we should look at introducing it slowly. Take it step-by-step. First introduce goal-line technology and giving the manager of both teams 1 claim per match. We know that exists because we see it every weekend on Sky Sports. Then after that introduce contentious offside decisions using the same technology during a match and keep the claims at 1 a piece. After that, if it’s a success, then have a review and see where Football lies after that.
The technology is there, we all see it in some form in other sports. We shouldn’t see contentious decisions on a goal-line decide the fate of a team, it’s simply not acceptable. If you look at the 2007 Rugby World Cup Final, England scored a try which was quite rightly not allowed, however for several minutes many thought that was a try and England celebrated. They were wrong but Rugby stepped further into the future and it was heralded as conviction for the faith that the I.R.B put into the technology. At the end of the game nobody could feel cheated, South Africa won and England shrugged their shoulders.
What has Football learnt since then? Nothing it seems. Not only because it has buried its head in the sand, but because it hasn’t learnt how to deal with the contentious decisions. We see irate managers every weekend say that they have been cheated out of a game by a bad refereeing decision, but the mood is changing and people understand that referees are human. This mood change doesn’t extend to the people who run the game and who should blame them.
They know and we know that football needs change. It maybe a slow and horribly drawn out exercise but the Organisations are failing the fans in there duties to do what’s best for football. To be quite frank, it’s there jobs to drag the game from its evolutionary state into the century that symbolises the future. 21st Century Football needs this.
