This weekend saw more controversial refereeing decisions and managers speaking out about them. Mourinho’s rant on Sky TV regarding Martin Atkinson’s atrocious blunders in Chelsea’s game against Burnley will surely be punished, but he shouldn't be. He should be allowed to show his distaste at downright awful decision making that may end up costing the title.
Ronald Koeman is another manager that felt hard done by this weekend after his Saints side were denied penalties in their home defeat to Liverpool. He moaned “The first one is difficult, because if you whistle it also a red card. But the second one, there’s no question.” He also called for more help to be given to referees when they have big decisions to make.
I can remember awful decisions in sport throughout my childhood. Maradona’s handball at the 86 World cup almost drove me to another sport. But my desire to follow the game was too strong. But back in those days I thought it would only be a matter of time until ref’s get the aid of video replays.
But no, FIFA for some unknown reason have not allowed technology to help. Rugby has the video ref when it comes to big decisions, Cricket also has help. Even tennis uses Hawkeye. Why not football?
There is no excuse and some decisions have big ramifications. Henry’s handball set up France’s winner and prevented Ireland from going to the 2010 World cup. A few seasons back Barca beat Chelsea and went on to win the Champions league final after the ref denied several penalties.
Without video ref’s the diving in our game is only going to get worse. Especially with more South American players coming to our shores. There is more tolerance of this type of behaviour in South America, where showing the cunning necessary to get away with something is widely praised. In Brazil it is often said that beating a big rival with an illegal goal adds extra pleasure to the victory. The Argentines call it Picardia and see it as a skill to be admired.
I can’t wait for our beloved football to embrace technology, okay so we have goal line technology after the farce of Lampard’s disallowed goal against Germany at 2010 World cup, but it is not enough. We really need to introduce video replays before more big decisions change games and deny trophies. The game has moved on and is too fast now to referee without it. Otherwise England are never going to win the World cup!
Source: DSG
