Time to use technology to help the soccer referee

Yesterday, Thierry Henry escaped punishment for his infamous handball offense in the 2010 World Cup finals against Ireland.

FIFA claims that they are “powerless to punish the 1998 World Cup winning striker because their rules prohibit it if the match officials have not seen the original misdemeanor.”

For an organization that can demand up to $ 100 million in broadcast rights from any country for the next World Cup in South Africa, it is indeed a fiasco to be deemed “powerless” in such circumstances. The fact is, this kind of controversy will not occur if FIFA adopted what many other professional sports have adopted, that is, make use of video playback technology to help its football referees referee their games. Only the highest rungs of FIFA and God will know what keeps the game more populated by adopting technology to improve the game.

Many traditional critics argue that refereeing in soccer must remain in the status quo, so that the human error aspects of the game remain part of the game. At the top, FIFA President Sepp Blatter is a strong opponent of the use of any technology to assist the soccer referee. In this modern age, traditional people like Blatter should be replaced to advance sports.

Indeed, FIFA can be held liable for all arbitration disputes that have occurred over the last century. Things got worse in the past two decades after instant video playback technology allowed television to broadcast all bad refereeing decisions immediately to the world for viewing. How can coaches, players and fans be blamed for being enraged when they see soccer referees deny them a legitimate penalty? Or a bad offside decision by the soccer referee that led to the eventual winner of the game? Worse, all of these arbitration decisions have led to actual life and death cases, when arbitrators who made crucial mistakes received death threats and were forced to withdraw.

Remember Anders Frisk, Sweden’s soccer referee in 2005 after the controversial match between Barcelona and Chelsea in the Champions League? He was forced to resign after some bad decisions that caused Chelsea to lose the eventual tie. In his own words, “it is not worth moving forward … My safety and the safety of my family come first.” These last few weeks have been the worst of my life. ” Soccer lost a very good referee that day. Can we blame him? Or the José Morinho who led that publicity assault against his poor performance? FIFA must also bear an important part of the responsibility.

What’s scary is that this kind of anti-referee thing is taking shape in younger age groups as well. Refereeing resources are already scarce, and at the lowest and youngest level of competitive football, young players and coaches are also learning from what they see on television to openly challenge the decisions of the football referee and cause disputes. It has become acceptable to criticize the referee whether he made the right or wrong decision, depending on which side you supported. This does not speak well of the game. What kind of sports boat are we teaching our young people? What kind of refereeing standards do we hope to raise if the job of soccer referees continues to be the loneliest in the world?

FIFA will always support the decision of the football referee, whether it is correct or incorrect. But this type of endorsement does not offer practical support for referees at all levels. What umpires need is an understanding of everyone that they are human and can make mistakes. If these mistakes can be rectified at the right time in a match through technology and appeals, the soccer crowd will not become too enthusiastic to condemn poor refereeing standards. Technology allows that to be done, but unfortunately, the authority does not. Wake up FIFA, before someone actually dies due to a bad refereeing decision. It shouldn’t get to that stage. Soccer is a beautiful game after all.