Hawk-Eye in Football?

[Matt]

The Football Association and Premier League have backed the introduction video technology to end uncertainty over goal-line decisions.

They want to have access to systems such as Hawk-Eye which is used to judge dubious line calls in tennis, and also on television coverage of international cricket.

And they received the backing of the International FA Board meeting in Manchester.

FA Chief Executive Brian Barwick said: " Goal-line technology is the right way forward for football.

"But if we are going to introduce it we've got to get it right."

But he was wary about the time-scale.

"It'll be about as quick as putting a man on the moon," he said.

Among the problems to be ironed out is how quickly referees will get confirmation of a decision.

Mr Barwick said it was important that the speed and flow of the game was not disrupted.

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Earlier the meeting had seen a video presentation from referees' chief Keith Hackett which included the Manchester United v Tottenham two seasons ago when goalkeeper Roy Carroll clearly spilled a long-range shot from then-Spurs midfielder Pedro Mendes over the line but a goal was not given.

Mr Hackett said: "We are working with Hawk-Eye in order to seek approval from the International FA Board to run an experiment to test out a version of goal-line technology.

"The system operates with cameras and computers linked directly to the referee, providing immediate information without interference, so we believe it fulfils all the criteria."

The Premier League believe around 10 matches in the top flight have an incident where goal-line technology could clarify whether the ball had crossed the line or not.

Hackett said it was often impossible for assistant referees to have the correct viewing angle to judge.

Some purists believe goal-line technology is a step in the wrong direction but FIFA president Sepp Blatter, who is the most important member of the IFAB, has made it clear he supports the introduction of goal-line technology.

Spose its a start to the end of bad refereeing, just got to sort the rest of the shitty descisions referee's give!

[JoeyB]

we don't want to much technology tho otherwise football will be no more.

its good to let refs make there own decisions but too much technology will spoil football.

if we need any just keep with goalline technology nothing else

[Nationwider]

Some purists believe goal-line technology is a step in the wrong direction but FIFA president Sepp Blatter, who is the most important member of the IFAB, has made it clear he supports the introduction of goal-line technology.

If that corrupt arsehole's in favour, I want nothing to do with it.

There's nothing wrong with the product - just over-fussy refereeing caused by over-complicated rules.

There will always be shitty decisions, by shitty refs. I'm sure the Royal Engineers and the Corinthian Casuals were surrounding the ref using profanity such as "rotter" and a "whore-son dog" a 100 years ago because Mr Cholmondeley didn't give an obvious obstruction on the edge of the area.

A decision either goes for you or against you - tough titty, as the French say.

If we scrutinise every decision using cameras and forensic evidence, we'll end up with a horrible, boring, made-up sport like Rugby Union or worse, American Football. Dull sports where the best team always wins - who wants that?

Say No to change!

Say Yes to the unfair and the unpredictable!

[Matt]

we don't want to much technology tho otherwise football will be no more.

its good to let refs make there own decisions but too much technology will spoil football.

if we need any just keep with goalline technology nothing else

I agree to some extent BUT last week as far as i'm concerned before the match I would have took a 1-1 against West Brom, But thanks to the referee's proformance he spoilt the game for me, I would have enjoyed it if it wasn't for him, because it was a good game.

Looking at the highlights he did "miss" a few things which should have gone in WBA favour, but I still say he edged the favouritism with WBA. Either way he missed things (For both teams) that ruined the game.

I also have the fear of if replays/or Hawk-Eye come into the game there will be no arguement/banter/conversation after the game about descisions, e.t.c, however recently (As in the last few years particularly) referee's have to be the centre of attention. Years ago you never used to know referee's by name, and now its the case of you know every referee's name...why? because they have made a name for themselves for being poor the majority of the time!

[JoeyB]

I agree to some extent BUT last week as far as i'm concerned before the match I would have took a 1-1 against West Brom, But thanks to the referee's proformance he spoilt the game for me, I would have enjoyed it if it wasn't for him, because it was a good game.

Looking at the highlights he did "miss" a few things which should have gone in WBA favour, but I still say he edged the favouritism with WBA. Either way he missed things (For both teams) that ruined the game.

I also have the fear of if replays/or Hawk-Eye come into the game there will be no arguement [ argument] /banter/conversation after the game about descisions,[decisions] e.t.c, however recently (As in the last few years particularly) referee's have to be the centre of attention. Years ago you never used to know referee's by name, and now its the case of you know every referee's name...why? because they have made a name for themselves for being poor the majority of the time!

i agree with you there, but i dont want football to rely on technology, its also going to be quiet expensive to get goals rigged up with this sort of technology especially for lower league teams.

i mean for example:

if Hereford were going to play Man Utd in the F.A. Cup would the fa make Hereford splash out to get the technology?

if you follow what i mean.

[Joe.]

There's so much money involved in football these days it's important that vital decisions are correct.

[Fez of Mahrez]

For me the beauty of football is that it's essentially the same game from top to bottom. I feel this will take away from that.

[JoeyB]

i blame Sepp Blater

if he'd of kept the offside the way it was (why did it change) and all other rules the same we wouldn't be in this mess imo

[Brainy]

I couldn't care less - what would we be talking about when this comes into football?

It will just be boring. How can we call it the ''beautiful game'' when technology is involved to help referees?

I couldn't make my point very clear - I'm not in favour of it.

[Simi]

For me the beauty of football is that it's essentially the same game from top to bottom. I feel this will take away from that.

Exactly. Taking the controversy out of football will spoli it. So what if errors are made, makes the games a lot more exciting than if every decsion was scrutenized.

[DB11]

It depends how long the breaks will be whilst they decide ¬_¬

[act smiley]

i blame Sepp Blater

if he'd of kept the offside the way it was (why did it change) and all other rules the same we wouldn't be in this mess imo

Blaming Sepp Blatter for all of football's problems considering how many are his fault is a great thing to do but:

1. The offside rule is ridiculously simple and far better than having a goal scored by a striker from a pass through the middle be offside because the left winger is a yard off, which is the alternative.

2. Its goal line technology for seeing if its a goal, not for every single decision, which would be unworkable and stupid, and as far as I know the ball has always had to cross the line completely!

3. Lets make it third-to-last for offside then! Oldschool!

The reason everyone knows and hates referees is the sheer amount of instant replays from a billion angles - sometimes on the TV the commentators will go "oooh, was that offside?" or "could that be a penalty?" then make a decision after 3 or 4 replays in slow motion and find that the ref got it wrong! well what do you expect if its that awkward to spot. An on the spot decision in half a second from a good 20 yards away is a world away from sitting in a studio watching closeups in slo-mo to see if a player got the ball or player first. Of course, sometimes there's hilariously bad mistakes, but everyone has a bad day at some point.

Unless cyborg referees get invented in 2092, referees will always either be crap, or have a bad day at some point. While this technology would be helpful, it does get rid of the whole "same from the bottom to the top" thing that football's always had going for it and would be worryingly expensive for lower league teams, most likely. Also, they need to be able to make the technology decide within barely a second or two cause otherwise things would get very confusing!

[tbf]

If every time we lost i could blame at least partly on the ref, htere'd be nothing to talk about on the way home. I always console myself with the thought that "we was robbed!"