Technology in Football

Having spent four years up to 2008, as a member of the International Football Association Board, which determines the Laws of the Game, I have followed with interest the debate on goal line technology.

The recent FA Cup semi final bewteen Chelsea and Tottenham again highlighted the difficulties for officials. In 2005, Sepp Blatter procliamed that the future lay in embracing technology, yet when Michel Platini took over at UEFA, this idea was ditched and his suggestion of deploying two extra officials behind the goals was experimented with instead. In observing this experiment, it is not obvious that the use of six officials has resolved anything, by way of improving decision- making in matches.

The emphasis on goal-line technology has detracted from the fact that the modern game is now so fast, that mere humans are not able to keep pace with it, and many officials have been found wanting. For technology to be of value, it needs to be deployed, principally in the final third of the field, where the play is tigher and big decisions are critical. That most infringements in the penalty area , for instance, are awarded against the attacking team is not a fair reflection of what actually happens. Match officials need to be judged on getting the "big decisions" correct.

There is a definite need for technology, as an aid to decision-making. Blatter has been adamant that for it to be introduced it has to applied in "real time" to prevent unnecessary stoppages to the game. This is largely irrelevant in my opinion. The game at the highest levels now is big business and managers' careers, promotion and relegation often swing on bad decisions.

We saw recently in the match between Manchester United and QPR how United gained a penalty as the result of Ashley Young recovering from an offside position, which was not spotted, to then win a penalty and the QPR defender was sent off, as a consequence. It looked a routine call for the assistaant referee, who was right in line with play, yet he must have taken his eye off the last defender, that he could not have spotted the offside. Everyone in the stand and watching on TV must have seen the infringement. The decision was wrong, the penalty should not have been awarded and QPR should not have had to play out most of the match with only ten men. The match was "dead" at that stage, as Mark Hughes, the QPR maanager pointed out afterwards. He was "cheated" as were the spectators of seeing a fair contest.

It technology is to be embraced, Blatter and others at FIFA will have to accept that there may be stoppages, as there are currently when players are injured, or substituted. For technology to work, the 4th Official also needs to be brought into play. He/she in observing the match on a video monitor, should be able to imform the referee through a microphone that a key incident has been missed eg offsie, off-the-ball incidents etc.

Fans want to see a fair contest. In the recent FA Cup semi-final, the referee could not possibly have seen from his position, whether the ball had clearly crossed the line.  Video replays were also inconclusive. In such a case, the referee should have been obliged to give the benfit of the doubt to the defending team, - Spurs, as that principle applies in all sport. It turned the match as a fair contest.