FIFA President Sepp Blatter has said that goal-line technology will be used in the next World Cup, which will take place next summer in Brazil. This news comes after years of debate surrounding vid-tech and whether or not it should be used in what is widely considered to be the world’s most popular sport.
Blatter’s reign as head of FIFA has been blighted by a series of controversies. Even his appointment in 1998 was met with scrutiny, with a senior official in the African Football Confederation alleging that he had been offered $100,000 to vote for Blatter in the elections.
During his tenure, the 76-year-old has been accused of serious financial mismanagement, making misogynistic remarks about female footballers (whom he said should ‘wear tighter shorts and low cut shirts … to create a more female aesthetic’), skipped World Cup closing ceremonies for fear of being whistled by the crowd, and stated that on-field racism could be sorted out with a simple handshake.
In the light of all this, along with the controversial decisions to hold World Cups in Russia and Qatar in 2018 and 2022 respectively, FIFA’s persistent refusal to consider using goal-line technology has seemed fairly insignificant in comparison, but it has nonetheless irked football fans across the globe – until now.
Many people see the 2010 World Cup as the turning point in the vid-tech saga. England were trailing Germany 2-1 in the last-16 when a Frank Lampard shot hit the bar and fell down over the line before bouncing back out of the goal. Despite the ball crossing the line by several feet, neither the referee nor any of his assistants registered it as a goal, and England went on to lose 4-1.
Following the match, Blatter apologised to the English Footballing Association, saying ‘it is obvious after the experiences so far at this World Cup it would be a nonsense not to reopen the file on goal-line technology’. FIFA then took their time coming to any form of decision about video technology, but the debate was reignited when England played Ukraine in the group stages of Euro 2012.
England won 1-0 but their opponents scored a goal which was not given, as the referee could not tell if the ball had crossed the line or not – replays showed that it was indeed a goal, and Ukraine later failed to qualify for the knockout stages. After the game, Blatter tweeted: ‘I am confident they [the International Football Association Board] will realise that the time has come’.
Now it would appear that there really is no going back for FIFA, who had opposed video technology – and in doing so, riled so many football fans – for such a lengthy period of time. The 2012 Club World Cup tournament, won by Corinthians in December of last year, saw two forms of goal-line technology trialled, both of which were given FIFA’s approval.
The first of these is Goalref, a magnet-based system created by the Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Circuits. The other, Hawkeye, uses a series of high-speed video cameras, and has already been used to help officiate tennis matches since 2006 and cricket matches since 2008.
Indeed, the use of cameras in other sports has been a major argument put forward by people in favour of technology, with rugby also using cameras to determine whether or not a try should be awarded. Critics will always argue that football should be kept ‘pure’, and that controversy is what gives games an edge – as well as giving fans something to talk about after the final whistle.
However, most football fans would agree that it is the sport itself that is exciting enough, and that unfair or incorrect decisions simply ruin games rather than spicing them up. It is also true that referees face difficult situations during matches and that human error is unavoidable, so it is possible that technological assistance could help ease the pressure.
Howard Webb, referee of several high-profile matches including the 2010 World Cup final, stated that he would be in favour of the implementation of technology in football, saying, ‘I’m open-minded about anything that makes us more credible as match officials’, before going on to add ‘I certainly don’t feel in any way at all that additional assistance will undermine my position’.
Next year’s World Cup will be the first to be held in South America since Argentina hosted it back in 1978. However, it is inevitable that much of the talk leading up to the tournament will be about goal-line technology and whether or not it will have a positive impact on one of the most important sports competitions on the planet.
Of course, those in favour of vid-tech will also ask how long it will be before such technology makes its way into domestic leagues – these fans may be disappointed to discover that such systems will only be implemented once every four years in football’s elite international competition, and not every week at their local stadium.
Tim Hellyer
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