FIFA Expresses Need for Refereeing Technology
After resisting change to the current refereeing system for years, decisive mishaps at the current World Cup have caused the International Football Association Board, IFAB and FIFA (one of its members) to change their minds. Officials now say that significant changes to the refereeing system will be in place by the next World Cup in 2014.
In particular, two refereeing mistakes during the 2010 World Cup have stood out. In the Round of 16, English midfielder Frank Lampard lobbed Germany’s keeper Manuel Neuer. The ball hit the underside of the cross bar and bounced over the goal line.
It was a clear goal to players, spectators and coaching staff alike – but the refereeing team, led by Jorge Labbadia, ruled it out. They had not seen the ball cross the line.
Another decisive mistake occurred later the same day, when Argentina faced Mexico, Argentine star forward Lionel Messi lofted a pass to Carlos Tevez – who, replays confirm, was in an offside position when the ball was played – and Tevez converted the chance to give his team the lead.
Signaling the association’s intention to stress the importance of refereeing reform to IFAB, FIFA general secretary Jerome Valcke admitted that particularly Lampard’s disallowed goal has been a cause for concern.
"We're talking about a goal not seen by the referee which is why we are talking about new technology," Valcke said to the BBC.
Critics will maintain that FIFA has been too slow to take action in the issue, which has been up for discussion before.
Recognizing the need for new refereeing methods in an ever-developing game, Valcke seems to be conceding to proponents of a thorough revamping of how games will be refereed.
"The game is so fast, the ball is flying so quickly, we have to help them and we have to do something and that's why I say it is the last World Cup under the current system," he said.
One solution to the referee’s goal-line blind spot would be to have a pair of officials by each goal, there to judge whether a ball has crossed the line and to monitor fouls in the penalty box.
Despite testing this manual system during last season’s Europa League and in next season’s Champions League tournament, set to start in August, IFAB turned down the opportunity to employ it at the current World Cup.
FIFA has four seats on IFAB, two short of the six votes needed to approve a change to the rules of the game. It is nonetheless thought that FIFA president Sepp Blatter, a long-standing opponent of technological improvements to the refereeing system, has influenced the board to reject any changes proposed to date.
Following the crucial refereeing mistakes of this year’s World Cup, though, Blatter seems to have changed his mind on the subject, stating that it would be “nonsense” not to introduce new technology into the game.
Two specific systems, developed by Cairos and Hawk-Eye, have already been tested by IFAB. The Hawk-Eye system places 6 cameras around the goal, monitoring the ball’s movement around the goal line closely.
The Cairos system uses a microchip inside the ball and a magnetic field around the goal line to detect exactly when the ball has crossed the line. Despite both companies claiming to have conducted successful testing, IFAB has yet to approve either system.
Valcke said that talks would be initiated in an IFAB meeting on July 21, but also admitted that substantive talks are not likely to begin until their next scheduled meeting in October.
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