After World Cup Refereeing Debacles, FIFA To Look at Goal-Line Monitoring Tech

They don't need fancy-pants technology. They could simply add two more refs and position them right at the goals (similar to where the sideline refs already run). Then there's no worry about the main ref or sideline ref getting to the goal quickly enough. Plus, there would be five sets of eyes on the goal instead of three

In rugby they have a video referee, if the ref on the pitch didn't see a Try or something, he calls upon the video ref who looks at the same feed that the viewer sees and tells the ref on the pitch what the deal is. If the pitch has one of those larges tv screens, the ref can see for himself.

Simples!

I think if there is time for cartwheels, sliding shirtless into a crowd of your teammates, and rolling around on the ground crying because some guy's shoelace brushed your cleat... there is time to review a goal.

@Qumulus - I completely agree. It would take seconds. There could even be an off field ref who just reviewed the video and used a headset to communicate with on field refs to let them know what the system said. Not hard to implement at all.

And Did you see America vs. Ghana? I've never seen so many "injuries" in one period of overtime...

"Look at" goalline tech? They've done that before. Still, fingers crossed that FIFA will finally come into the modern day.

I agree, they already have injury time that accounts for time needed when the game is stopped and the clock is still running. Why not just build review time into this "injury time" period. It take less then a minute to review a goal, add less then a minute of extra time.

@Qumulus: Ha, good point!

after seeing england play the us, the whole stoppage of play thing is bs. every time they touched the damned ball they kicked it out of bounds. then you have the acting hurt rolling on the ground and players intentionally wasting time as the ref watches...why cant the world like a sport that is less stupid?

How about focusing on the skills of the refs. Maybe pay them some amount more comprable to the player's salaries and judge them severely. ( I don't know what World Cup refs make, but I doubt if it's astronomical).

This scheme addresses one issue -- wouldn't have helped the disallowed US goal -- which was extremely controversial. Tech can only do so much.

US style football has been ruined (IMHO) by replays, and now they're putting it into baseball. Football replays still allow for boneheaded calls, and they break up the game.

What happens in the case of a no goal call like the England v Germany match? If play has not been stopped and the goal is reviewed and found to be good, then what? Now image a no goal call that is being reviewed on the counter attack and found to be good when another goal is scored on the opposite side of the field... what a debacle that would be!

The only sensible solution would be goal line technology with a light similar to hockey. Instant replay has no place in soccer.

Haven't we developed lightweight transponder tech that could be suspended in the ball itself? Soccer balls are already made inside out and then turned right side in to inflate and finalize. Suspend a transponder in the middle of the soccer ball, cushion of air will protect it from jostling during the game (god knows no soccer player can kick a ball hard enough to flatten it) as well as when the transponder breaks a field between two goal posts GOOOOOOOAAAAAALLLLLLL! No human interaction necessary there. And don't bowling alleys have IR beams to prevent fouls, lets run those up and down the sidelines as well as the endcaps. Simple solutions for complicated problems right?

Haven't we developed lightweight transponder tech that could be suspended in the ball itself? Soccer balls are already made inside out and then turned right side in to inflate and finalize. Suspend a transponder in the middle of the soccer ball, cushion of air will protect it from jostling during the game (god knows no soccer player can kick a ball hard enough to flatten it) as well as when the transponder breaks a field between two goal posts GOOOOOOOAAAAAALLLLLLL! No human interaction necessary there. And don't bowling alleys have IR beams to prevent fouls, lets run those up and down the sidelines as well as the endcaps. Simple solutions for complicated problems right?

@joedonaldson83: It's not quite that easy as the entirety of the ball must pass the line.

I agree with the comments of Qumulus. The celebration after goals are too long, especially if the goal was scored on a blatant offsides which can be replayed on the screen. What are th refs listening to on their headsets? I hope is is a head ref saying you got the call wrong, correct it before you put the ball in play again=hello!