How many times have you experienced that awful feeling when your team loses thanks to a bad call from the referee? I know I have. As a player and as a fan, it's always a dissapointment when an unfair goal is counted or when a legitimate goal is denied. It is certainly always a controversy.It does not matter at what level, the dissapointment is the same. Take the offside rule for example, probably the most controversial rule in the soccer world. It's so important that the argument has been made that the offside rule should just simply be eliminated.
In December, 2004 ScienceDaily revealed a study. It stated that "To apply the offside rule correctly, the referee must be able to keep at least five moving objects in his visual field at the same time (two players of the attacking team, the last two players of the defending team, and the ball)." This is impossible to do by the human eye. This means that most offside calls are by chance and not because a referees see them clearly. If allowed to stand, the offside rule will keep bringing controversy to the sport. As a plus, critics of the rule also argue that offsides take emotion away from the game by making it even more difficult to score.
FIFA, the all-knowing organization, has actually made matters worse. By implementing "clarifications to the rule" such as stating that players "actively involved in play" are offside, FIFA has made the job much harder for referees around the world by making them reach a decision in a split second . It goes without saying that this "clarifications" have made referees the biggest targets to insults and abuse. (I'm not proud to admit it, but I help this cause almost everytime I watch a game. I try to sympathize with refs, but man it's hard!)
So, what's the solution? Do we eliminate the offside rule? Do we bring techology in the picture? Add extra refs? or just stop whinning and leave it alone?
4 comments:
Nowadays technology has made it simple to keep sport rules fair. The use of technology in soccer should be implemented. Not only for offsides but also for controversial plays during the game.
Its like telling umpires in baseball that technology will take over their calls on a foul ball or if a player caught the ball before it hit the ground. its part of the game to have officials make the decisions. We all now that soccer players are the worst when it comes to arguing with officials over certain calls but ITS PART OF THE GAME!!! only the best of the best officials referee professional games and we have to respect their calls. I think the game of soccer if fine without technology.
I don't think just because is "part of the game" an important tournament could be decided by a referee's mistake... I agree soccer players are bad when it comes to arguing...so why instead of doing nothing, we let technology answer all controversial plays. Who would argue when the proof is right in front of you? Doing nothing is never a solution.
Post a Comment