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A video ref would bring the World Cup out of the dark

Anthony Sharwood

by Anthony Sharwood

22 Jun 05:35am

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Filed under: Harry Kewell, Soccer, Video Referee, World Cup

34 comments

The case for a video ref in soccer is so mind-numblingly, blatantly self-apparent, only a monolithic, dictatorial body like FIFA could stand in its way. So naturally enough, it is.

Seeing red. Picture: Toby Zerna

Maybe the vuvuzelas have left FIFA deaf to the calls for justice by video. Or maybe, the real villains here are hardcore soccer fans, who squeal “how dare you tinker with our perfect game!” at the merest hint of change.

These old school extremists are FIFA’s unwitting foot soldiers, twittering away on their iPhones about the shocking potential impact of technology on the game they love.

The irony is, technology already negatively impacts every World Cup. As evidence, look at the gratuitous changes to the ball every four years so manufacturers can sell a shedload of them to suckers.

This year’s dud ball, the Jabulani, was apparently developed in a factory that produces licorice allsorts, and has roughly the same aerodynamic properties as a flying rhombus. Talk about fixing something that ain’t broken.

A video ref would do exactly the opposite. It would harness technology to tackle the game’s biggest problem, which right now is referees so incompetent they make NSW Labor politicians look like sound custodians.

Where to start with the refereeing howlers? Tim Cahill and Harry Kewell both received reds for yellow-card offences. And the USA had a potential match-winning goal disallowed against Slovenia, with the ref inexplicably blowing his whistle for a foul.

But the Gold Vuvuzela for refereeing howlers surely must go to Stephane Lannoy, the official who dismissed Brazilian star Kaka. Here’s the incident in reverse, which I’m told is a tricky way of circumventing copyright laws.

None of this is to demonise the officials. They don’t have eyes in the back in their heads, and that’s exactly why they need help, as no lesser authority than John Aloisi argued in this piece yesterday.

The counter to Aloisi’s plea is the classic swings-and-roundabouts argument, which maintains that the good and bad calls will always even themselves out in the end.

Not at the World Cup, they don’t. Swings and roundabouts works fine for a competition like the English Premier League, where each team plays 38 matches and the laws of probability have time to even things out. But in a tournament where you can be out in the first two games, the theory just doesn’t hold up.

And even if the luck does even itself out, the current situation is still woefully inadequate. Imagine for a moment we’re talking about something more serious than a game of soccer. Imagine a red card is a death sentence. Now imagine we have a justice system with no court of appeal for those sentenced to the electric chair.

Would we say, oh well, it’s OK to sacrifice a few innocents because it makes up for all the murderers who get off the hook?

Or do you think, maybe, we’d seriously investigate a system where every offender is afforded a second look? It works for tennis. It works for cricket. It works for the majority of American sports. And it can work for soccer too.

Soccer doesn’t need a video ref for situations other than red cards, penalties and offsides. It doesn’t even need a video review system at every tournament or match. But it does need one at the World Cup, and it needs it desperately.

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34 comments

Show oldest | newest first

    • Chris says:

      07:05am | 22/06/10

      I believe you are spot on about the introduction of a video review.

      I feel that a system similar to tennis could be implemented. Each coach/manager/whatever they are called get two challenges for each half of a game, one challenge for extra time. These challenges do not accumulate from one half to another. The challenges are lost once they are used, regardless of the result of the decision.

      When the coach (let’s roll with that term for the moment) indicates that they wish to challenge a decision, the referee(s) review the challenge and must make a decision within 30 seconds. These decisions can be reviewed after the game by the relevant authorities

      While it would be good to use this in open play, at the first instance it could be quite easily implemented whenever the referee calls for a card or a free kick.

      What do you think?

      Reply

    • Bruce says:

      12:51pm | 22/06/10

      Chris, this is a great idea….it works so well with the tennis that it is worth a go.

      I really enjoy soccer but I think some of the umpiring decisions (eg. Kaka’s and Cahill’s red card) can really ruin a game.

      This could also potentially stamp out the diving and players faking they are hurt to get penalties.

    • jed says:

      07:40am | 22/06/10

      a video ref would be as corrupt as the on field one

      Reply

    • Steely Dan says:

      12:48pm | 22/06/10

      You might be right, jed.

      But at least the introduction of a video ref takes away the excuse that the refs couldn’t see the incident.

    • Jeff Winter's Beard says:

      08:49am | 22/06/10

      Wrong.  Video refs are not needed in football, just better referees.  The standard of refereeing in this tournament has been terrible and not for on the spot decisions like Cahill’s sending off (which it wasn’t) or Kewell’s (which, if you accept was an offense, could never be a yellow card and has to be a red - it’s in the rules if you look hard enough), but for overall decision making on what a foul is, what it isn’t, who’s dived, who hasn’t, etc etc. 
      I went to an NRL game last season where the video ref was called to decide on a try.  Video ref couldn’t see.  Video ref handed back to field ref, who then had to guess at the decision.  Absolute nonesense and the final proof I needed that video refs are not needed or wanted in football.

      Reply

    • Steely Dan says:

      12:51pm | 22/06/10

      “I went to an NRL game last season where the video ref was called to decide on a try.  Video ref couldn’t see.  Video ref handed back to field ref, who then had to guess at the decision.  Absolute nonesense and the final proof I needed that video refs are not needed or wanted in football.”
      Having a video ref doesn’t mean that they’ll always be able to rule on a decision.  What’s wrong with stopping the clock for 30 seconds to see if a ruling can be made?

    • Martin says:

      09:30am | 22/06/10

      When did handling the ball on the goal line become a yellow card offence?

      Reply

    • CSallen says:

      12:16pm | 22/06/10

      i think the word ‘hand’ in the term ‘handling’ negates your argument

    • Soccer Ref says:

      05:17pm | 22/06/10

      Martin is absolutely correct.  Denying a goal scoring opportunity by a hand ball is a red card.  CSallen does not realise that the “hand” in soccer extends to the point of the shoulder.

    • Sarah says:

      09:37am | 22/06/10

      I don’t want a video ref but I have an idea.

      Leave the red card as a sending off at the Ref’s discretion BUT refer all suspensions to a judiaciary which uses video footage to determine if a suspension is warranted, and if so, how many matches.

      This leaves the human factors present in the game, which makes them exciting and dramatic. A video ref for every call (like Hawkeye in tennis or 3rd umpire in Cricket) makes it too clinical. But it makes things fairer because if there IS a slightly dodgy call, while your player is still sent off, the team doesn’t suffer in the next game by losing a man.

      Reply

    • Jack says:

      12:47pm | 22/06/10

      But it may be a RED card that really isn’t that adds to a team not making the next round so the team does suffer

    • Daisyduke says:

      10:04am | 22/06/10

      No. People want to cheer a game, not a scoreboard where “Try” or “No Try” (or the football equivalent) is displayed.

      Anyway the problem is not the referees, the problem is the players diving, and they need to do something about it. Liberally appliied 10 mins in the sin bin for diving would stamp it out real quick.

      Reply

    • Shifter says:

      01:00pm | 22/06/10

      If the powerful ruling bodies of FIFA and UEFA really wanted to do this, they’d already be making an effort. They officially recognise ‘simulation’ exists but have never wanted to make an effort to stamp it out.

      Instead they reward players like Cristiano Ronaldo who buckle at a mere hint or expectation of contact, and younger players take note of the example. The cycle continues.

    • Mr Subramanian says:

      10:15am | 22/06/10

      Soccer needs video reviews to eliminate diving, so perpetrators can be identified and shown the yellow card. Soccer needs video reviews because scoring goals is so hard and therefore the effect of incorrect decisions is vastly amplified. Soccer needs video reviews to give both teams a fair go, rather than being influenced by the supposed skill and superior play of a much more highly favoured side. That last point is why it won’t happen: it makes the “hero” sides more vulnerable to the lesser sides as they’d lose the protection of the golden glow surrounding their stars, so they’re not interested.

      Reply

    • Chris says:

      10:44am | 22/06/10

      I’d love to see a video ref review post match some of the dives, dramatics and foul play of players seeking to cheat the ref and infulenece the game. A red card penalty post match would help clean up the game. I really think that woud then trickle down into the minds of the majority of everyday players. I play in a local comp where shirt pulling, etc is getting worse. Where do you think these guys see and learn this bad behaviour? Surely a seriously small investment at the top level would change the game that is played by millions and millions.

      Reply

    • Paul says:

      11:16am | 22/06/10

      I would support a video referee to the extent that, similar to tennis, the captain of either side can ask for the video referee up to two times in a game and only when the decision is regarding a questionable goal or penalty decision, nothing else.  I would hate to see it end up like the footy where every bloody try goes to video referee.  It breaks the flow of the game, which is what soccer is all about.

      Video footage is already consulted extensively post game when players sit before the tribunal for red/yellow card offenses.  I would like to see FIFA review the mandatory 1 match bans for red cards in world cups and let the tribunal impose an appropriate punishment.

      I would also like to see video footage reviewed after the game to retroactively penalise foul play.  That would see a dramatic improvement against spitting, hand balls, diving, shirt pulling and other fouls that get missed.  That would be far more of a deterent than being “card happy” during the match.

      Definitely agree with comments about improving the standard of refereeing.  Some of it has been just woeful.  The Cahill send-off, the Klose send-off, the Addy non-send off.  There was an offside call in the Korea - Portugal game last night that was nowhere near offside.

      Reply

    • Ryan says:

      11:17am | 22/06/10

      Could it be that it is in fact the referees that influence the game? Could it be pre-planned? Having a video referee would make this more difficult to achieve and hence there would be one possible reason why FIFA are against it.

      Reply

    • KH says:

      11:46am | 22/06/10

      Its OK if Brazil handballs a goal though isn’t it?  Its the inconsistency that annoys me - funny how the established Euro and South American countries can get away with this crap, and everyone else is treated unfairly.  NZ were given a kick by the referees, as were USA; yet Fabiano handballs, and then admits it, compares it to another cheat moment from Maradona back in ‘86, and still no problem? Why is that?  I think FIFA are an insular, protectionist organisation that pursues its own interests over the game it is supposed to be administering.  There is no motivation for them to make things right by using technology that is available to make the game better, because that would not be in the interests of the big nations who always win these things.  Football just isn’t that neat and tidy - strange results happen in this game, and it would be far more entertaining if a winner was worthy, rather than pre-determined.  The referee should not be able to change the outcome of a game.  He isn’t supposed to be playing in it.

      Reply

    • Amber says:

      11:57am | 22/06/10

      It is commonly held that FIFA pretty much decides the outcome before the game - it is a politically charged game and the winner is often the country that needs the distraction from its political/financial woes, the most.

      Reply

    • Simonious says:

      05:10pm | 22/06/10

      Ageed Amber. Something smells fishy about this whole world cup. What i want to know is why the send offs have happened to minnows that look like they are about to cause an upset over a European, Sth American or African side. It seems that Austrlia making the finals lat world caup has brought us attention and that FIFA and their refs do not want us getting past the 1st round. I cannot wait for the dying seconds penalty against New Zealand when they have the gall to make it to the finals and look like they are about to beat a world powerhouse like Italy.

    • Bruno says:

      12:10pm | 22/06/10

      cause it works in footy aye?

      Reply

    • Mikeymike says:

      12:34pm | 22/06/10

      Is there a bigger problem in Soccer than diving?  Surely it detracts from any sport as much as match fixing and on field brawls.  So why isn’t there a concerted effort to stamp it out?

      I seriously do not understand why this childish behaviour is allowed to continue.  And how simple would it be to introduce a post match judiciary?  Hand down multi game suspensions to the player and massive sanctions to the team and the coach and it will be gone within a year.

      In this case, Kaka gets reinstated for the next game, Kieta sits out the next two games (big deal), the coach gets sidelined for 1 (maybe 2?) and the team faces a $100,000 fine.  Take that diving.

      And now, moving on to introducing a red card system to AFL…

      Reply

    • Dan says:

      01:30pm | 23/06/10

      No, leave AFL alone. I hate red cards. Not only is it unfair if the player turns out to be innocent, but suspending them is enough.

    • Rangaraider says:

      01:13pm | 22/06/10

      A post match video review system has been used in the A-League and it has proven to be effective at reducing diving/simulation/gamesmanship/cheating. They also review other incidents but this does not change the results of matches decided by a referee blunder. In some cases the quality of refereeing has become worse because they make a decision knowing that if its wrong it will be reviewed. I think referee’s need to be held accountable for blatantly poor decisions. I appreciate the difficulty of the task but if you are not up to it you shouldn’t be there! Also FIFA should review the penalties that can be handed out in a game and make reds for blatant fouls, handballs etc. In match video can work but it would need extensive testing to make sure the game does not suffer, so don’t hold your breath.

      Reply

    • Justin says:

      01:56pm | 22/06/10

      There’s a simple way to eliminate most of the problems - make them play in straight jackets. Think about it. No hand balls, no elbows, no shirt pulls, no writhing on the ground while clutching your face. Even studs up tackles would be all but eliminated as sliding in is much harder without your hands to break your own fall.

      You’re not supposed to use your hands in this sport, so take them out of the equation.

      Reply

    • Rossco McGlashan says:

      02:34pm | 22/06/10

      At the least there needs to be an appeals process to the Redcard game suspension. Sure send them off, but players and teams should be able to appeal the suspension if they believe it unjust.

      Reply

    • Ziggy says:

      03:16pm | 22/06/10

      I’m for the video - and it can’t possibly slow down the game. As it is I find soccer (sorry football) great for falling asleep - after baseball that is.Sometimes though, I must admit, the acting for fake injuries is oscar worthy.Don’t do away with that please.

      Reply

    • Ducks says:

      05:33pm | 22/06/10

      It works in tennis and cricket because there are stoppages after every point (or ball in the case of cricket) is played. This is ineffective for soccer which is a more fluid game. Stupid idea.
      Referees are needed in any sport and will never get it 100% right. It is far more difficult than it looks which is why I will always try to get out of umpiring duty and have great respect for those who do it.
      Admittedly there will always be some bad calls but I find it interesting how everyone assumes that their team would have won if the ref had just got that one instance right and they hadn’t missed their opportunity. Generally the good teams just get on with it and find another chance to score.

      Reply

    • Amber says:

      09:56pm | 22/06/10

      Here’s my suggestion:
      1. Red cards: Referee retains the right to issue a red card, player has no right of appeal during the match (same as now), referee is responsible for the correctness of the decision. A second yellow card in a match is treated the same as a straight red card.
      2. Yellow cards: When ref issues a yellow card, a Fifth Referee reviews the incident on video and can upgrade the punishment to red card, or leave as is, or downgrade to no card, or punish a diver for diving. Fifth ref notifies centre ref by radio and centre ref takes action at next break in play.
      This will deliver extra justice with little or no disruption in play.

      Reply

    • Amber says:

      10:04pm | 22/06/10

      Amber 11:57am | 22/06/10 isn’t me, an Amber who has posted here several times before.

      Reply

    • Richard says:

      10:34pm | 22/06/10

      Yes I aggree, we need to embrace technology in every aspect of our lives, including our sporting pastimes. The ball needs a chip in it that senses when it crosses the plane of the goal, it straightforward and fair. Referees should have an earpiece in and they should be advised on what colour card is appropriate by the fourth official as soon as his whistle is blown.

      Reply

    • insomniac says:

      04:38pm | 23/06/10

      How about using video technology for incidents in and near the penalty box, and leaving the rest of the field under the ref’s control and interpretation.  Play stops anyway so why not check the video and determine if its a true infringement or a dive, or the degree of deliberateness in handballs etc, and then punish accordingly including red cards for diving

      Reply

    • dale says:

      08:33am | 28/06/10

      If anyone saw the England v Germany game today, then you would be in favour of a video ref.  The ball went behind the goal line by about a foot at least, and bounced back out hitting the cross bar and out of the goal.  The linesman and ref both missed this and a goal was not awarded. 

      The only way you can be against video referee is if you don’t want the fairest outcome possible.

      Reply

    • steven says:

      01:48am | 14/07/10

      I think Insomniac is right, only the ‘big deals’ i.e. goals, cards and dives should be looked at. The ref then still has to take care of the rest of the field and so you will maintain the fast pace football has right now. Ofcourse the FIFA won’t be taking that seriously at the moment but maby there will be some day they will.

      Reply
 
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