Technology – Do officials need technological help?

The Scutler Files, named after the former Old Man of the board and Wiggleville legend, Scutler, are going to be a series of articles posing questions from the ever changing and ever diverse world of football to several of the sites users to gain a broad range of opinion and to spark interesting debate amongst our forums.

So without further ado the first of this series of articles poses a question about a seemingly controversial subject within the game, Video Technology and its place in modern day football. I’m sure all of us can point to some incident over the past 12 to 18 months where the referee has got a decisive and game changing decision wrong.

Recently there seems to have been more and more support from the top clubs, managers and even referees for advancements in football, whether this be a video judge like in rugby or just simple goal line technology, to be implemented in the game to cut out these mistakes. However the official word from FIFA is that goal line technology will NOT be implemented into the game due to costs and maintaining that all levels of the game are the same.

Therefore for this first article myself, Bishy and Badderman have all answered the following question; should technology be brought into the game to aid the officials?

Falc

In a word yes technology should be implemented into the game.

However I can see the reasons why some in the footballing community, mainly the top dogs at FIFA, would be opposed to the idea. By just bringing in any kind of technology it is likely that it would only be available to the upper echelons of the footballing world, for example your Premier Leagues, Serie A’s and Liga BBVA. As Sepp Blatter alluded to the cost of such technology would be high and this would be an obvious stumbling block in the lower leagues, where arguably such technology is even more vital due to lower refereeing standards.

I also believe that serious consideration as to the type of technology is needed, over recent weeks, maybe months there has been talk about having a video referee much like in rugby, however I have my oppositions to this avenue of technology being used.

Firstly football is not a stop start sport like rugby and never will be and I think it would harm the game if it were forced this way therefore is there really chance for the referee to consult the video ref about a penalty shout when the other team are flying towards the other box on the counter attack?

Secondly by having this video ref suddenly the man who is meant to be in charge of the game loses his authority, his decision no longer becomes final, is this really good for the game?

If however we were looking at simple goal line technology that were to produce a small beep or sound in the referees ear if the ball crosses the line then yes I’m all for it, there have been too many instances lately where plain and simple the referee has got it wrong, whether this be down to defending players deceiving the referee or the referee not getting any help from his assistants. Therefore if they can be helped by technology in this sense then I see no valid reason, other than the cost reasons as set out above, that it cannot be implemented.

Bish

I’m in the middle on the technology in football debate, I think if done to an extent then it could work well but there is no need to go overboard. Stopping the game to consult other officials, video screens etc like in Cricket and Rugby isn’t needed in my eyes, it’ll just slow down one of the fastest and most exciting sports on the planet.

Refereeing errors are just one of the things you have to accept, they have been part of football since its inception and I don’t see why it needs to change, it’s just like a mistake from one of your own players that leads to a goal. Yes, people will argue that they can cost clubs dearly e.g. missing on promotions, being relegated etc because of wrong decisions but they happen for and against you and for me it’s just part of what makes football so unpredictable and discussable.

If technology had to be introduced I’d just restrict it to one of the solutions that has been discussed in the past. A simple chip in the ball that gives a beep in the referee’s ear if the ball crosses the line. No stoppages to consult officials and no controversial decisions.

Simples.

Badderman

First of all, I’d suggest that we need to look at the possible situations where technology could be implemented. I’d be the first to shout down any calls for the introduction of video replays to determine throw ins, and menial free kicks, as there is a need to protect the way the game flows as it’s what separates football from almost every other sport on the planet.

However, I feel the main issue is when big decisions are incorrect. Red cards, penalties and goals that haven’t been given, could all be awarded correctly with the hindsight that a video replay provides. What’s more, in the majority of these situations, the introduction of video technology would not stop the game from flowing.

Overall, referees are human, and as such they will make mistakes. It’s not really their fault, especially when you consider the pressure they’re under and the manner in which they’re treated by modern footballers. FIFA should support them, by implementing the necessary systems to allow them to make the right calls, most of the time. Nobody’s calling for them to be infallible. Currently, FIFA are putting the officials between a rock and thousands of fans, with no method of support, and I don’t envy them one bit.

Ian Holloway summed it up perfectly a while back, coming out with another hilarious comment, saying “Why haven’t they got cameras? The officials can speak to each other easily enough now. Why aren’t we using laptops that are linked up and can give a decision in five seconds? A chimpanzee could do it – with not much training. We might as well go back to being cavemen, grab our girl by the hair, drag her into the cave whether she wants to come in or not because we may as well live in that age. We’ve come forward, haven’t we?” And you know what, he’s got a point.