How long will FIFA bury their head in the sand over video technology?

The governing body of the biggest sport in the world seem to be completely clueless.

Fifa are allegedly a multi-billion pound organisation who is supposed to look after the interests of football but at times they seem out of their depth.

The video technology debate is the perfect example of their ineffectiveness.

Blatter

Fifa president Sepp Blatter seems to go from one debacle to another. He is completely against the idea of video technology in the game.

Surely even MR Blatter must now think about video technology being brought into the game, after two amazing mistakes in yesterday’s last 16 World Cup clashes.

It was not hard to spot that Frank Lampard’s effort went over the line. My grandmother knew it was over the line and she is partially-sighted! She even suggested that the linesman needs to get down the opticians first thing on Monday morning.

Then there was the ridiculous Argentina goal that should have been disallowed against the Mexicans. It was obvious to everybody in the ground that Carlos Tevez was offside. I’m not surprised the Mexican players were surrounding the officials.

Both incidents could have had a big say in the way with which the games were going. England were losing 2-1 at the time of Lampard’s ‘Ghost Goal’ and Mexico were holding the Argentinian’s at 0-0 and had just struck the post.

Important

These human errors can be very costly for teams. The decisions may not have really changed the outcomes of the England or Mexico games but they could have changed the course of the World Cup.

Human Error

Football has always had to deal with the human error factor. Some say it adds to the excitement of football. However I would rather watch a game which is won by right decisions. I would prefer the game be stopped for 10 seconds while the correct decision is made.

They have video technology in nearly every other sport and it doesn’t spoil those sports. It will take a short amount of time to bring the game back. It won’t slow the game down to a great degree and we will be getting fair and correct results.

Bias

I am not just broaching this issue because England was involved in a controversial incident either. The reason we need to address this issue is because the crazy decisions that are being made are turning our game into a laughing stock.

Cost

Blatter’s reason for ruling out video technology is the cost of installing technology. It wouldn’t cost a great deal of money for the technology to be introduced. The fourth official can already see the action on screens in most dugouts across Europe’s top leagues.

Even the big screen at some grounds show incidents just after they have taken place (just like the big screen did in the Argentina-Mexico game). Would it really be that costly for the referee and linesman to see such important events again? I doubt it.

It’s in the interests of football for the governing body to final bring in the needed technology. Football is a billion-dollar industry and for silly officiating mistakes to have such a big say in the game is quite frankly astounding.

2010

We are now in the year 2010 and football is stuck in the 1890’s. It’s time our sport evolved into a sport for the 21^st century. We have the capabilities to make correct decisions. So why are Blatter and co. being so stubborn? I’m not sure but surely it is time for the organisation to reconsider their thinking.

Should video technology be brought into football?