Repent, replay and sin no more

05 July 2010 - 00:47 By Toby Shapshak
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Toby Shapshak: Sepp Blatter has finally admitted what the rest of the already world knew: Football is in dire need of some innovative technology to counter the innate problems of a fast-moving sport that has foolishly shunned such confusion-solving upgrades.



The bad refereeing decisions are the least of the problems, to my mind, that instant replays can resolve, but sadly it seems to be the only aspect that is likely to change in the near future.

And if rugby can use the TV referee, why can't soccer? Replays are available within 30 seconds, and it's unlikely to destroy the rhythm of the game, no matter how much Fifa protests about flow and the fan experience.

Which brings me to my bugbear about soccer players: Do they not know about instant replay too?

It pains me to see the hopeless flopping down that penalty-seeking players perform. "Diving" is not nearly as descriptive enough a word. "Flopping" is better. Or "cheating".

How can it be that this tiresome, painfully obvious and instantly replayed fraud can be allowed to continue? Why is there no official sanction, no citing commissioner like in rugby, who punishes them for behaving contrary to the honourable spirit of the game?

Luis Saurez could barely stand up against Bafana, he was rolling on the ground so often, and don't even get me started on his criminal handball against Ghana. Kuene was a victim of some of the foulest drama-inducing flopping this World Cup has seen. Luckily for own-goal goalkeeper Robert Green, Jorge Larrionda's failure to award Frank Lampard his goal has made that referee the most hated man in the UK - and most loved in Germany.

So, here is my solution: A citing commissioner reviews each game and if he sees blatant flopping the player is hit with an automatic censure.

Losing their entire match fee, say, and an automatic six-match ban. Something harsh and compulsory. Watch how quickly the flopping will stop. If the technology exists to show the TV viewers this cheating, then use it to punish offenders and stop the rot.

Goal-line technology is of course the only such new technological upgrade soccer is likely to get. Sadly, it's the easiest and least likely to change a game that is already Oscar-inducing.

You can embed a chip in the football, which registers when it crosses over the goal line (with a sensor along the crossbar). Or you can use the Hawkeye cameras used by cricket broadcasters to show the flight of the ball through the air and its likelihood to hit the stumps - which has become one way of adjudging LBW rulings. Cricket traditionalists were in an uproar when such tech was introduced, but its efficiency quickly won them over.

None of this is new. Stuffmagazine featured a range of sporting innovations way back in July 2008, including the Adidas Intelligent Football, with an embedded sensor that alerts the ref when it crosses the goal line. There were also health-monitoring helmets for American football, performance-tracking golf clubs and even belt-driven mountain bikes for off-road adventuring.

A more fanciful idea might be to have players wear chips too, so a touchline sensor can monitor whether they are offside or not.

The argument over whether this new technology has an impact on the flow of the game is pointless.

The lack of it allows Thierry Henry to handball France into the finals at Ireland's expense and any of the other travesties that have taken place, which moments after they happen can be seen by the whole TV-watching world.

Stop blaming the refs, start blaming the administrators who won't get with the times.





  • Shapshak is editor of Stuff magazine.
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