Sepp Blatter
FIFA has finally agreed to consider the goal-line technology that’s been creating such waves among World Cup followers (England in particular), after months and years of persuading.
Regular errors from referees and linesmen alike have turned the World Cup into a messy affair, and the time has apparently come to take up this threat seriously. Now purists have always maintained along with Blatter, that the occasional human error is what makes the game more interesting. But when such errors are high-profile, and decide the course of a match in a big tournament, they come under the crosshairs.
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Tevez’s offside goal that all but killed Mexico’s dream was even showed on the big screen in the stadium – thus bringing the linesman into sharp contrast (never mind the Argentine who must have surely realized he was offside but still celebrated wildly). Has the screening finally woken FIFA from it’s slumber?
Sports such as cricket and tennis use technology to determine whether the ball crossed the line, the boundary, or whether it would even have gone on to hit the wickets. Why can’t football follow suit? Tennis has a chair umpire right on the line, and he can be forgiven to refer to technology as the fuzzy balls move quite fast. The cricketing umpire can be forgiven if he refers to third umpire about whether the ball crossed the boundary before it bounced or not. How can football referees think otherwise?
Was Platini never at the receiving end of a harsh decision? Doesn’t he realize the agony that goes along with it?
“I have spoken to the two federations (England and Mexico) directly concerned by referees mistakes. I have expressed to them apologies and I understand they are not happy and that people are criticising,” Blatter told a media briefing in Johannesburg.
“It is obvious that after the experience so far in this World Cup it would be a nonsense to not reopen the file of technology at the business meeting of the International FA Board in July.
“Personally I deplore it when you see evident referee mistakes but it’s not the end of a competition or the end of football, this can happen.
“We will naturally take on board the discussion on technology and have first opportunity in July at the business meeting of the International FA Board.”
Blatter added: “It happened in 1966 and then 44 years later – though it was not quite the same.
“I apologised to England and Mexico. The English said ‘thank you and accepted that you can win (some) and you lose (some), and the Mexicans bowed their head and accepted it.”
He also addressed the Argentine goal, though he didn’t sympathize with the offended party.
“The only principle we are going to bring back for discussion is goal-line technology, ” he said.
“Football is a game that never stops and the moment there was a discussion if the ball was in or out, or there was a goal-scoring opportunity, do we give a possibility to a team to call for replays once or twice like in tennis?
“For situations like the Mexico game you don’t need technology.”
Blatter added that FIFA will launch a new initiative to improve refereeing standards later this year.
“We will come out with a new model in November on how to improve high level referees,” he added. “We will start with a new concept of how to improve match control. I cannot disclose more of what we are doing but something has to be changed.”
