Fifa cross the line....or did they?

So once again the powers that be have decided to shelve plans to introduce goal-line technology in professional football.

A statement was released around lunchtime on Saturday suggesting that the door was closed and no level of technology will be used. Apparently despite the FA and the SFA voting in favour of the developments, we were denied after them there rascals in Wales and Ireland voted against us and sided with FIFA. Seeing as the use of technology would have prevented Ireland losing to France and possibly sent them to World Cup I'm surprised by their decision. I seem to remember them kicking up a little bit of a fuss when Thierry Henry slapped France to victory.

It's typical that within hours of the decision being made, a huge case was made for the inclusion of technology. My beloved Birmingham were trailing 2-0 to cash-strapped Pompey with 10 minutes in the Quarter-Final of the FA Cup with a visit to Wembley at stake. Blues are starting to pick up steam and win a corner. The corner bends majestically into the box and is met by future England captain Roger Johnson - just you wait and see - and goes flying towards goal. David James makes a good save but is only able to parry to Liam Ridgewell who heads downwards and James can only hook the ball away from beyond the line, 2-1. Or so it should have been. The linesman denied the goal that would have lead to an exciting finish with Birmingham chasing a replay, despite replays showing the ball to have clearly crossed the line.

Now obviously I'm a little bitter about this as it worked against my team. Plus one of my good friends is a Pompey fan and he was mean to me on Facebook as a result. However, surely its time for football to move with the times? We live in a technologically dominated world and if there is the means to aid the referee without too much effort than why not use it?

Looking at the arguments, we have the case for Hawkeye, which works well in both cricket and tennis. With a tiny weeny chip placed inside the football, and little unnoticeable cameras in the goalposts, everytime the ball crosses the line, the referee gets a cheeky beep in his headset and he signals goal. In the words of the world's biggest celebrity....Simples.

Even the use of television replays makes sense. I disagree with the argument that it would slow the game down. In incidents like Henry's handball and Ridgewell's header the viewing of one replay would give officials the answer. While the player's who feel hard done by are remonstrating with the referee the fourth official could watch nine or ten replays and make a decision to pass on to the referee.

Look at American Football, ok it's slower than our game anyway and there are already plenty of stoppages where replays can be assessed, but rarely to wrong decisions get made and therefore the team that deserves to win generally will. As long as the rules are implemented properly and you set guidelines for the situations where challenges can be made then it makes sense to bring it in.
I know the decision has been made because FIFA officials want to keep up the tradition of the game. But, if a sport like golf, with its snooty background and age old traditions can stretch to letting players don collarless shirts and allow women play in tournaments with men, then why can’t football use what they’ve already got to help the referee?

Hopefully one day Fifa will see the light.

On a positive note, referee Mark Halsey makes his return to the game tonight after winning his battle with cancer. He takes charge of tonight’s reserve game between Leicester and Scunthorpe. Here’s wishing him a speedy return to the top flight!