Over the weekend we saw the 5-1 demolition of Spurs in the FA Cup semi-final at the hands of a re-juvenated Chelsea side who have seen a sharp incline in fortunes since Roberto Di Matteo’s appointment as caretaker manager.
It wasn’t the one-sided scoreline that dominated the headlines though, as referee, Martin Atkinson chose to allow a seeming ‘phantom goal’ to stand while the score was at 1-0. A pivotal decision any Spurs fan will tell you, and one that undoubtedly contributed to their downfall throughout the game. Carlo Cudicini had pulled off a good save from David Luiz’s point blank header and a goalmouth scramble ensued.
The ball dropped to Juan Mata who tried to poke the ball over the line, only to find Benoit Assou-Ekotto instinctively shoo it away and off the line, importantly, before the whole ball was over. Despite his good position to see the incident, Atkinson decided to signal for the goal to be given sparking bemused Tottenham Hotspur players questioning him.
In the fallout of this, the fact that football still seems to be in the proverbial dark ages surrounding any kind of goal line technology to aid the referees has seen widespread criticism and becomes just the latest in a long line of controversial goal line decisions.
Since this though, we have found out that FIFA, The FA and the Premier League are all in favour of installing technology to help the referee decide whether the ball has crossed the line or not, with both Hawkeye and GoalRef being tested, although the FIFA referendum on the matter won’t be until earky July, and the Premier League have warned it could take up to 3 months to install the technology in all 20 top division grounds.
This raises a few questions though. Firstly, why has it taken so long for FIFA to cave in and accept that referees do need some help? As a nation, we were infuriated at Jorge Larrionda’s decision not to allow Frank Lampard’s equaliser in the 2010 World Cup match against Germany, we have also had Stuart Attwell award a goal which never even went close to crossing the line in a Championship match at Vicarage Road between Watford and Reading.
Another high profile goal line controversy was Pedro Mendes’ long range goal against Manchester United at Old Trafford which was dropped over the line by Roy Carroll but famously never allowed, or Clint Hill’s headed goal earlier this year which Adam Bogdan scooped back out of the net, the list is seemingly endless. The line that ‘controversy adds something to the game’ doesn’t really seem to wash anymore.
Contrasting this though, there is the question concerning an unfair playing field. If this technology is going to be installed, how far down the football pyramid is it going to be implemented? Surely it creates an unfair advantage for Premier League teams over the rest of the Football League if it is only given to them. While we have the same sort of thing in rugby, whereby when a mach it broadcast live on television there is the ability to have a video referee, the same tolerance will probably not be given be lower league football fans.
That said though, it should be a priority of FIFA that goal line technology is installed, even at embryonic levels, to give the referee and linesmen a helping hand in an extremely demanding job.
Introducing the neat little app that’ll pay you to view content tailored to your interests:
ThisisFutbol.com are seeking new writers to join the team! If you’re passionate about football, drop us a line at “thisisfutbol.com@snack-media.com” to learn more.