FIFA’s stubborn refusal of Goal Line Technology
28th June, 2010
Anyone who’s following the World Cup will know that the England Vs Germany match on Sunday 27th June was surrounded with an incredible buzz. We always seem to get the Germans don’t we?
The England team haven’t played particularly well in the World Cup fixtures leading up to this game, which only contributed to the air of doubt circling the England spirit as the game drew closer.
The match itself was gripping – with Germany coming out the other end 4 goals to England’s 1 – but is this how it should have been? Germany had managed to total up 2 goals before England scored their first, and within one minute of England’s first goal, Lampard fired the ball towards the German goal, which proceeded to bounce off the bar and reflect a healthy 2ft back into goal territory.
The goal was disallowed by the referee & linesmen, sparking outrage and confusion. From this point on after the potential equalizer was disallowed, the team fell apart proceeding to be beaten 4-1 by long standing rivals, Germany.
The game has acted as another example to FIFA to introduce goal line technology – a technology that is already present in other sports such as Cricket and Tennis which would have acted as a third mediator to lampard’s potentially game changing goal.
However, FIFA maintain that they will not be considering goal line technology, which was reinforced in March by the International Football Association Board. FIFA general secretary, Jerome Valcke commented saying that “Technology should not enter into the game, it was a clear statement made by the majority of the IFAB," "Let's keep the game of football as it is."
However, are FIFA maintaining their views for the wrong reasons? Alan Shearer, ex England Skipper seems to put it perfectly, saying that ‘All the managers and the stars of football are calling for it. Not everyone can be wrong, can they?’
Maybe it’s time that FIFA realised that we’re in the 21st Century and that Technology is a part of how our world works. Refusing to use goal line technology is a bit like saying ‘we could eliminate the potential for human error, but nah’.
To be fair Germany deserved to win their game, they played far better than the England team and earned their goals fair and square but 40,000 stadium watchers saw the goal go in, millions at home saw on the replays however the decision came down to one referee and two linesmen and it seems they made the wrong one.
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By Tom
