The disallowed Frank Lampard goal in 2010 world cup last-16 match-up between Germany and England still upsets many English fans till this day. Lampard’s goal would’ve turned the tide of the game, putting England back on level terms with Germany with a 2-2 score line. However, that’s not what happened, referee Jorge Larrionda failed to award the goal as it bounced off the underside of the cross bar and crossed the goal line (video at 2:25). The match ended with a 4-1 victory for Germany. There are many other such instances where the referee is left unsure of whether a team has indeed scored a goal. Quite often, referee makes the wrong decision that results in injustice. One other notable incident happened during the 1966 FIFA World Cup final between England and West Germany, what you know, but that time, West Germany was the on the receiving end of things.
Incidents like these prompted FIFA to push for the implementation of goal-line technology. The use of sensors and cameras to help aid the referee’s decision on questionable goals. Since 2012, goal-line technology has been gradually introduced into top-flight European domestic league competitions such as Serie A, La Liga, and English Premier League. however, due to the cost of installation and maintenance, most low-level clubs are not able to afford this technology. According to FIFA’s official report, as of the start of 2016-17 season, there are 78 clubs with FIFA certified goal-line technology installation across Europe. Similar to goal-line technology, just of recently, Video-Assisted Referee (VAR) has been slowly introduced to the game. The 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup marked the first use of this technology in a major international tournament.
However, the futbol community is very divided when it comes to introducing new technology into the game. Many have criticized that these technology will take away the human aspect of the game. Former FIFA president Sepp Blatter has openly criticized the new technology by saying what makes futbol fascinating and beautiful is the uncertainty and debate in the game and with the implementation of new technology, these elements of the game will eventually die out. As Langdon Winner pointed out in Technologies as forms of life: “As we ‘make things work,’ what kind of world are we making.” So what do you think of the use of technology in futbol. Does it bring change for the better or worse?
WingoMegsU 
I don’t have much of the experience in sports. Though I feel like many games have already adopted the VAR, like volleyball, pool/snooker or things like that. To me, it’s just something that could not have negative outcomes??Though the goal-line technology is quite different from that. Personally, I think scores are highly valued in games, it’s the decisive reason whether a team can advance, you definitely want to win every possible score. (And this may help reduce the corruption).
LikeLike
I think goal line technology is one of best things to happen to the game of soccer as it will award teams goals when they get them and it does not slow the game down at all. I find it ridiculous that the Champions League and La Liga still do not have goal line technology after seeing how well it has worked in other leagues around the world. In terms of VAR, I again think it is a good thing that can help referees when with fouls they may have missed or offsides calls, that can help improve the fairness of the game. I think it will take a few years for refs to perfect the VAR system, as it currently has led to some bad decisions (like the lack of a red card for Chile in the Confederations cup final) and it still slows the game down a little too much.
LikeLike
It surprised me a lot that Sepp Blatter would say that he doesn’t want the goalline technology. I would think that the president of the soccer community would want to show that he wants to advance the technology of the game and make it as accurate to piss off as few fans as possible, because the second one of these mishaps happens, I think everyone knows whose head these fans are going to want on a silver platter
LikeLike
Just a side note, FIFA is a VERY corrupted organization. There are many reasons why Blatter doesn’t want GLT in the game (he did change his stand after the Germany-England controversy), but I won’t be surprised if he’s doing it for personal gains (or he might just be a troll and likes to watch the world burn). Just to give an idea of how expensive GLT is, FIFA made 300,000 euros in 2014 alone just installing and maintaining GLT in the Premier League. On average, it cost around 250,000 euros for a single club to maintaining the technology each year.
LikeLike