Tuesday 27 February 2007

Steve Bennett Interview

As part of my research I interviewed Steve Bennett, a Premiership referee, to see where he stood on the topic of technology in football. I have published part of the interview below:

With the previous question in mind what are your views on implementing technology to assist referees in decision making?

"I don’t have any problem with technology – the only situation I believe it would work is goal line assistance providing the technology was reliable enough to give a positive decision within a few seconds of the incident happening. Sometimes a goal line judgement is extremely difficult and several different replays are required"


Do you think the introduction of technology would relieve some of the pressures on referees?

"Yes. But only for the above situation."


If technology was implemented by the Premier League, how do you think this would affect the role and status of the referee within the game?

"It would definitely enhance the referee’s decision making."

To view the full interview click here:

Controversy throughout the game

Here are some recent views by Premiership referees on the use of technology throughout sport:

Essentially, in rugby, as I understand it, if any part of the body hits the ground outside the field of play, regardless of where the ball is, then play should stop. Therefore Wilkinson (against Scotland in the Six Nations), with his right foot clearly hitting the deck before grounding the ball, should not have been credited with his try. All this oval-ball attention is relevant. Think back to poor, much maligned Pedro, and the calls for technology. And this is where the technology debate MUST be changed, and split into two. There are two arguments:

One is to introduce some sort of electronic device such as a microchip in the ball, to aid decision-making. The other is for video replays. The microchip-in-the-ball technology, used in a junior world tournament in 2005 and since developed and modified, will be put to trial at December's FIFA Club World Cup. I am perfectly happy with this method, should these trials prove successful. It only makes sense to use this technology if we have it at our disposal, and that the cost and practicalities make it possible. I am very much against video replays, and have been for some time, mentioning it repeatedly on these pages. To me, the Johnny Wilkinson incident is the counter argument to what happened a week previous with Pedro Mendes (Man Utd vs Portsmouth). The difference between the two strands? Us. Humans, Homo sapiens. If, and it is still a big if, the technology can be correctly made and proven, then it can be employed independent of us.

Look at tennis, who have for years used 'Cyclops' to indicate whether a serve is out, and now the hawkeye system for during open play. The trouble with replays was proven at Twickenham. Donal Courtney, who was the fourth official at the Calcutta Cup match, clearly called wrong. It was human error. Surely a camera in the goalmouth, or from whenever, is subject to the officials, even with the assistance of video replays, making mistakes of judgment. Many refer to the fact that refereeing decisions are part of the game, and that it provides a talking point post game. The counter claim is often that technology must be used to ensure fairness.

Taken from: http://www.football365.com/referee365/0,17033,8747_1899211,00.html

Will there be a decision sooner rather than later?

The International Football Association Board (IFAB) will vote on the introduction of goal-line technology at a meeting in Manchester next month, the Football Association has said.
The 121st annual meeting of the IFAB, which is entrusted with determining possible amendments to the worldwide laws of the game, will take place at the Lowry Hotel on Saturday 3rd March.
Among the items on this year's agenda, a vote is to be conducted on whether or not to introduce some form of technology that can be used in the middle of a game to determine if the ball has crossed the goal-line.
A three-quarters majority of the eight votes is needed to pass an amendment and the body consists of one representative from each of the football associations of England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and four representatives, each with one vote, from world football's governing body Fifa.
Three separate projects, including a microchip being inserted in the ball and goal-line cameras and instant replay technology, are to be discussed.

Taken from: http://sport.monstersandcritics.com/soccer/article_1261869.php/Goal-line_technology_vote_next_month

Some extra info can be found here: http://www.thefa.com/TheFA/NewsFromTheFA/Postings/2007/02/IFAB_GoalLineTech.htm

Tuesday 20 February 2007

An Introduction

Over the next few days I will be publishing the work I have produced on the topic. I assessed the success of technolgy to resolve controversy in other sports such as cricket and tennis and talked about their introduction into football. My research included the study of news articles, interviews, books, newspaper articles, focus groups, questionnaires and posting on message boards. Below is part of what the study concluded:

"Having produced a detailed study into technology to resolve controversy, I have outlined a number of conclusions. The equipment that is currently used in cricket and tennis has been successful although the introduction of ‘hawk eye” into tennis has demonstrated that this is not enough. However what already exists, particularly in cricket has not only improved the fairness of the game but the satisfaction of the audience.

When it comes to football a clear trend has been established. Keith Hacknett (2005), the former referee stated that “There is no point in introducing technology without understanding the wider issues”
Having identified these wider issues assessing the opinions of the audience through questionnaires, message boards and focus groups it has become clear that technology in football seems imminent."
TIME FOR TECHNOLGY IN FOOTBALL?
As football fans, we've all probably lost count of the amount of times that our team has been hit with 'a goal that never was' or 'a penalty that should have been'. It is inevitable that the referee isn't going to be 100% accurate with his decision making but in today's day and age, when there is just so much on the line, something needs to be done. Whether the answer is video technology however, is something that were not all going to agree on.
Therefore I have created this blog to keep up to date with the ongoing argument and also to publish the heaps of research and work that i have already conducted on the topic.