WE’RE STUCK IN DARK AGES
Penalty farce proves FIFA must switch on the video
YOU WON’T find it written down anywhere in black and white, yet it remains one of the unseen by-laws of the game: until such time as an almighty mess is sitting squarely on FIFA’s front step, the governing body chooses to keep the door bolted shut.
Rows over goal-line technology were hardly something new when Frank Lampard’s infamous ‘ghost’ goal against Germany in the 2010 world Cup brought matters to a head.
the 2000 African nations Cup Final between nigeria and Cameroon had already been scarred by a similar howler.
And the world watched agog five years later as a long-range effort from Spurs midfielder Pedro Mendes crossed the goal-line at Old trafford but, incredibly, was missed by all the officials despite Manchester United keeper Roy Carroll ending up tangled in the rigging.
Such was the hullabaloo over the incident involving the Portuguese star that FIFA did, in fact, begrudgingly make some noises about trialling goal-line systems, but it was no more than platitudes to appease the masses.
It took Lampard’s ruled- out effort in Bloemfontein — with the ball being clearly a yard over Manuel neuer’s line in the last-16 match — for the dam to finally burst.
Despite initially shrugging off calls for the adoption of goal- l i ne technology to be approved, FIFA relented two years later with the system operational in Brazil last year.
the lesson for Scottish football fans still bemused by events at Hampden on Sunday when the officials failed to spot a potentially game-changing handball? Perhaps only when such an outrage occurs in the world Cup in Russia in 2018 will common sense prevail.
For those who believe the SFA are intransigent to football embracing the kind of video technology that would have seen Inverness Caley defender Josh Meekings red-carded and Celtic awarded a penalty in the Scottish Cup semi-final, here’s some news…
In February, the International Football Board — the SFA, FA, Irish FA, welsh FA and FIFA — met in Belfast supposedly to discuss the possibility of approving trials. Before the meeting, FA representative David Gill made no bones about his association’s stance.
‘we can’t live in the past,’ he stated. ‘Greg Dyke (the FA chairman) said he embraces it and I think that, in certain circumstances, I would look at it
‘the TV coverage has 28 to 30 cameras at a game. Everything is replayed. So how do we use that?
‘My view is to use it sensibly, but it needs to be done in a manner that doesn’t detract from the fastpaced, quick action of football.’
Despite cases also bei ng forwarded by the SFA and Irish FA to at least take the matter further, FIFA, aided by a sceptical welsh representative, simply kicked the matter into the long grass.
It won’t be discussed again for at least another year.
‘It’s a question of making the biggest decision ever in the way football is played,’ said FIFA’s secretary general Jerome Valcke by way of an explanation for its rejection.
while that may well be the case, procrastinating on the issue is hardly likely to resolve it.
Injustices like those on Sunday, which almost certainly cost Celtic a place in the Scottish Cup Final, are hardly a rarity in the global game.
Yet, until such time as one affects the outcome of a world Cup match involving one of the game’s heavyweights, they seem set to remain.
to the great embarrassment of UEFA president Michel Platini, the stationing of additional officials behind both goals has proved to be an extraordinary waste of time.
Seemingly less reluctant to get involved than traditional linesmen, they have seemed superfluous since first trialled in the 2009-10 Europa League. On Sunday, Alan Muir, the official behind the goal, should have had a clear view of Meekings’ handball.
But for reasons best known to himself, he failed to advise referee Steven McLean on what seemed an inevitable course of action.
‘I knew it was a penalty,’ said Celtic striker Leigh Griffiths. ‘I think everyone in the ground knew it was a penalty. I asked the referee why he didn’t give it and he said the assistant behind the goal (Muir) said it hit him (Meekings) on the face.’
there is no excusing such crass incompetence. McLean and Muir should both have seen the handball and, even if one may have blinked at the wrong moment, then the other should have ensured the right call was made.
that they didn’t is another blight on what has been a desperate season for officiating in this country. Perhaps more than ever, the SFA now has good reason to press FIFA to at least road-test video technology.
It’s hardly uncharted territory in sport. For those who prefer the oval ball game, a television Match Official has been part of the fabric of rugby for the last 14 years.
no one claims the system is perfect — decisions can often take longer to reach than they should — but few would dispute that it hasn’t enhanced the game.
Used in first-class and international televised games, the TMO can rule only on what the referee asks him.
this usually involves, in try-scoring situations, whether a player’s foot has been in touch or to see if the ball has been properly grounded. But the TMO is also used in open play to help referees decide whether to show a red or yellow card.
while the video review is normally conclusive, the snag — which is clearly a red flag for FIFA — is the time delay.
At a recent Aviva Premiership match between northampton Saints and Saracens, it took four minutes of review to award the winning try to the former, while two other tries were disallowed.
Edward Griffiths, the Saracens chief executive, later labelled the TMO process ‘a shambles’.
Rugby’s concern over the effect the TMO is having on the sport has led to Hawk-Eye, the ball-tracking technology company, to hold talks with the International Rugby Board about providing a replacement.
Hawk-Eye, already used in cricket, tennis and for goal-line decisions in football, can provide information for decisions within a few seconds by synchronising cameras from multiple angles.
For football, the answers are already out there. If only someone would first ask the questions.