Throughout history one of the biggest dilemmas in soccer worldwide is the question of rather or not the ball has crossed the goal-line. Many goals have been disallowed that crossed the line and many goals have been granted that didn’t quite make it over the line. This has been a pressing issue for quite some time and there never seems to be a simple solution. Well as technology evolved through the years the solution became presented itself.
The games being played in a tournament, perhaps like the FIFA World Cup or the UEFA Champion’s League, have many millions riding on it. With such large amounts of money being shelled out for advancing in these tournament it becomes imperative that the officials minimize any officiating mistakes. FIFA (Fédération Internationale de Football Association) is the governing body for soccer worldwide and they decided to take the goal-line issue out of the referee’s hands and rely on technology.
FIFA decided to place a micro chip in the ball, sensors in the goal posts, and a watch that receives all the information. The beauty of this process is that it is instant and virtually mistake free. The second that the entire ball has crossed the line the watch receives a signal from the sensors on the goal that has picked up the signals from the microchip in the ball alerting the referee that the ball has crossed. The whole process is instant and the center referee is the only one that receives any notification for he is the only one wearing this watch.
This past summer during the FIFA World Cup in Brazil this technology was introduced to much success. It came to be used many times throughout the tournament and not once did it fail. It is now also in use in the major European leagues with plans of reaching out to the rest of the world in the near future. Just one more way that technology is making the difference in the world.
Having a micro-chip inside the ball clearly makes a difference in how the game is officiated, The official can have the best angle on the field and make a great judgment call but still get the call wrong. This new technology only corrects this problem, leaving no chance for an error and allowing officials to focus more on flops like the one in the Netherlands vs. Mexico game in the FIFA World Cup.
ReplyDeleteDon't blame the flop. Mexico lost because they stink.
DeleteWith the success that this technology had in the world cup, do you think soccer will have some type of replay technology? Baseball is in its first full season with replay and seems to be a good thing. Angry fans like Santiago sure would like replay.
ReplyDeleteThey have spoken about adding replay but those are just rumors for time being. Seems that fans like Santiago will remain angry for the foreseeable future.
DeleteSeems to be great use of technology but, is it possible that it could fail or be incorrect? In your opinion how much should we rely on technology in general?
ReplyDeleteThus far it has been flawless. In my humble opinion I believe that too much technology is a bad thing. I'm a firm believer that one of the best parts of sports is the unpredictability of the human element. Officials as well as athletes are humans and make mistakes.
DeleteThis would give more accuracy in the calls made. It would be interesting to see the statistics on this. Compare how the same game would be refereed with the technology and without it.
ReplyDelete