It’s too late for the 1966 West German team but Hawk-Eye creator, Paul Hawkins has revealed a contract is in place to adapt his ball-tracking system to make goalline decisions in football.
Hawkins sounds confident that, working with Reading FC’s Academy side, a system could be in place in the Premier League within a couple of years.
But once the floodgates are opened, and technology is available for use by referees, why stop there? If the defences of the rule makers are down, why not squeeze through another concept in the challenge rule, which was well received at the recent Wimbledon tennis tournament by pretty much everyone apart from Roger Federer.
Imagine the great theatrical scenes as managers and players turn to the big screen in the 89th minute to see if that clever ball through for a winning goal was offside?
Referees might be pleased at escaping the wrath of irate managers and their pointing fingers after a close call. Those ugly scenes witnessed at the Emirates Stadium, where then Wigan Athletic manager Paul Jewell stormed on to the pitch to voice his discontent at a decision made by referee Phil Dowd, may be a thing of the past.
So are we all in favour of the challenge system? Or would we risk slowing the game down too much?
Patrick Johnston, London
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6 comments so far
To be honest, I think having challenges in football is one of the worst ideas I’ve ever heard. You have to respect the decision of the ref, and I think the controversy is a big part of a game’s appeal in any case. And it’s not as if the crowd needs to get any more involved at a football match. But still, I’d be interested to hear arguments in favour.
- Posted by Londonrev are only human and thy make mistakes so their should be some kind of extra arbiter who looks to the replays all the time.
He can watch it at http://www.voetbal.be if he wants
- Posted by Voetbal.beChallenges in football? No. They work (or at least partially) in tennis and cricket because of the stop-start nature of those games. Football is too high-paced for a tricky decision which takes a minute or more to decide. Games wouldn’t finish for hours!
- Posted by JPOne of the most appealing things about football is the simplicity of the whole thing. You don’t need a load of expensive kit, or anything much (apart from a ball and a bit of space) to enjoy a game. Wouldn’t it be a bit of a shame if they started bringing in more and more technology? When I was a kid the introduction of the four-steps rule for goalkeepers was tricky enough to deal with.
- Posted by KevWhile we respect the refs decision,i do beleive we need the aid of technology for offside & goal line decisions.people talk of this slowing down the game,but when players & managers argue with the ref about decisions,which in itself slows down the game,what harm can a 15 second video clip do.
- Posted by markChallenges would just make everything slooooow down too much. The wait while they make a decision is one of the things I hate most about American Football.
- Posted by Rafa