It would be fair to say that as long as Sepp Blatter is in charge of FIFA who control world football, that goal line technology is not going to happen.
Flippant maybe but it's safe to say as long as Platini is in charge of UEFA and European football and there is a continued cash injection into the French game, that the financial fair play scheme will be delayed. Never mind the clubs who have strived to comply within those boundaries that is an argument for another day.
That would seem to suggest the FA are powerless to promote change but I think there is a way a new system can be implemented and should it work, will have other football associations looking on with envy.
As I understand it the FA are responsible for all leagues and cup competitions involved in England. Right down to grass roots but for the purpose of this we shall say Premiership, Championship, League 1 and 2, FA cup and League cup. These mentioned competitions all have TV cameras at every match for highlight packages. Even the 1st round of the FA cup gets a highlight package every year. So the cameras are already at every match so that argument is gone. What if there was a referee either sat alongside commentary or in the video trucks. If the officials behind the goal lines and the referee's assistants can get the referee's attention via a button then why is it not possible for a referee to get the attention of an official sat in front of a screen via the same method. Referees have never had it so hard with the speed of the play and the cost between winning and losing so vast means every human error leaves these respected men looking foolish.
This is what I am proposing. Say the FA decided that for one season they were going to test a new referral system in the league cup. It carries a prize of European football and already has TV crews at every game. Say each team received 1 referral each. If all the officials had a button that directly requested a review from the official sat alongside commentary or in the TV truck. If a referee wasn't sure he can request 1 neutral referral. A manager can get the referee's assistants or the 4th official to request the same review. Your talking no more than 30 seconds for someone making that request. When they use this system in Cricket it is very swift although admittedly the action is not so intense. Why not have a limit of 2 minutes and if the video referee can not find definitive proof a decision is wrong in that time then the game carries on. Referral lost only 2 minutes added on time.
Last weekend in the Premiership alone such systems would have seen Jack Rodwell's sending off changed to probably a drop ball. No yellow maybe not a foul. That error on Martin Atkinson's part ruined an enthralling game of football. I agree with David Moyes in the sense that Liverpool may have won the game anyway but as a contest it ended with that decision. Or the Wolves match in which if they had used their referral they may have got the penalty in the first half or not had the late goal ruled offside. One day we are going to face a situation to Manchester City and Tottenham a few years ago where the are playing a match for £25m-£30m. Something like this could ruin 2 seasons for someone. So far it hasn't.
The thing is the FA pride themselves as being the oldest football association yet we continue to wait for UEFA and FIFA to do something. One season as a test isn't to much to ask. Just one league cup campaign. It doesn't have to stay and it will need refining if it is to work but I am sure there are referees who have watched a decision back in horror and most managers would welcome 1 in game referral when it is not to late to change the course of a match. It's a proposal that's all.
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