Rise of the Machines

It’s finally happening. Sense has been seen. During March next year, FIFA will finally be discussing potentially introducing goal-line technology, where it seems likely that measures will be put in place to implement it, or at least trial it, for the 2012-2013 season. A nation still thwarting from the wounds of World Cup injustice weeps with relief.

In contrast, until quite recently I was one of those fusty conservative stalwarts who opposed any plans to introduce technology into football, even following Lampard’s disallowed goal against Germany in the World Cup. Perhaps it’s pure nostalgia and emotion that speaks these words, but I do feel that football’s simplicity is its key, and should be preserved at all costs.

That said, I’m not a backwards yokel and I’m willing to accept that, as one of the few objective decisions a referee has to make, goal-line technology can earn its place in the game if it’s used in the correct way. As a result I’ve come up with a few guidelines I’d want to see followed if FIFA are going to push the proposal through. Not that I have any authority or reverence that would make FIFA listen to me, but nonetheless, here is the criteria I believe it is imperative the technology follows:

1. Goal-line technology must be 99.9% accurate: This seems a rather obvious one, but still extremely important. If the technology shows itself to be at all erroneous, then I can see it conjuring up more controversy than 1000 Graham Polls could ever hope to amass. If it doesn’t work practically every time, it’s not worth considering.

2. Goal-line technology should not be simply a replay system: During the 2010 FA Cup Final, Drogba took a shot that bounced onto the line, and after seeing a replay, Clive Tyldesley was shouting “Look, we can see that’s in, why aren’t video replays being used?”. Then they showed the incident from another angle, clarifying the incident as not being a goal, and Tyldesley said “Well, maybe it wasn’t a goal. Still, it’s a good point isn’t it?” No actually Clive. You just blew your point out the water.

3. The notification as to whether or not a goal has been scored should be instantaneous: There’s been a lot of scenarios banded about on the internet about how one team could have a goal-line scramble, and then the other team goes up the other end and scores, causing a confusion for the rule if a decision takes time to be made. While these situations are pretty unlikely, referees have to be prepared for any event, and such possible ambiguities could cause all sorts of problems. This wouldn’t happen if referees were instantly informed as to whether a goal has been scored or not, so I think that’s important.

4. The technology should not affect the flight of the ball: I saw an image on the internet of a potential goal-line technology system that involved having what looked like an electrocuted spider spanning the whole inside of the ball. There’s absolutely no way something like that wouldn’t have an effect on the way the ball runs, which would be a compromise too far for the clarity technology provides.

5. This is not the thin end of the wedge: This is the crux of my point, and my biggest fear over this movement. I know it’s easy to fall down the old slippery slope fallacy, but I still think that accepting goal-line technology could well lead to more equipment being used for other decisions, such as penalty calls, fouls, offsides, etc. I’d hate this to happen. Hate it.

As I mentioned earlier, goals are one of the simplest, most objective entities in football. It’s either over the line or it isn’t. That can be worked into the game. But for things like penalties, not only are we relying on a wholly unnecessary video ref to make a decision that could just as conceivably be idiotic, we also get the game breaking up as everything gets appealed, the match barely moves, the on-field referee seldom has say on anything anymore, and the game stagnates as a result.

The reason why football is so exciting is because of its pace, and simplicity. It’s the ball, two teams, and two goals. Don’t use your hands, don’t hit each other. Let’s play. If you tune into a football match halfway into the game, it’s very likely that the ball will be in play; Do that with cricket, or rugby, or baseball, or many other sports, and the chances of that are largely inferior. As I say, goal-line technology is fine, but if football becomes infused with an insufferable amount of technology, then I can see the game losing a lot of its attraction.