Time for Technology to come off the bench

Following a few crucial ‘incidents’ over this past weekend of premier league football, refereeing mistakes or decisions seem increasingly publicised in many forms of the media and something needs to be concluded in order to improve clarity.

Two hand ball incidents in the QPR game stand out for me as talking points of the weekends matches. Neil Warnock was, as ever one sided, yet I think the two penalties his side failed to receive following Alan Hutton’s hand ball/ball to hand moments, could have been simple and swift to resolve.

A correct decision could have been made in a matter of seconds through the use of TV evidence; whether or not those situations were in fact penalties, I will leave for you to decide.

It seems as if every other week there is a highly controversial moment in football, most notably for me, the concept of goal line technology.  Perhaps the most famous incident where the case for can be argued, was the crucial decision to deny Frank Lampard’s perfectly fair goal against Germany in the 2010 World Cup. His shot hit the bar, bounced over the line, then back into play.  The goal would have had a huge impact on the game and England would have had a much better chance. In fact the goal did not stand, Germany ran out 4-1 winners and the rest is history.

 It seemed on that day that for everybody in the stadium, the players and the fans watching at home, it was clear the ball had crossed the line, yet it eluded the qualifications of the referee and his officials.  With goal line technology, there could have been a quick review and the goal awarded. It has been argued against that the technology would hinder the natural aspect of the game and slow the play down.  However I’m sure that the many brains involved within FIFA and the creators of Hawk Eye, that a simple and easy idea could be thought out.

Similar to the Cyclops system in tennis, if the ball crosses the line, then a sound could be made (possibly into a fourth official’s ear piece) and it would be easy to determine the correct judgement.  It would at most require a referral to an off the field official, however should be able to be determined on the field of play. 

I see it quite disappointing that UEFA and FIFA officials make controversial decisions not to include technology, and instead have two officials with a stick behind the goal, who still can’t always determine a fair verdict.

I think that the FA should stand up and implement the technology within English league football and this would hopefully trigger a similar reaction from other leagues and chiefs at bigger boards such as UEFA and FIFA.  Something has to be done sooner rather than later, else there will be major controversy and more wrong decisions throughout the footballing world.

Harry Hunt @HarryHunt92