Viewers of the Everton v AEK Athens or Fulham v CSKA Sofia matches on television last week could not have failed to be aware that they are using two extra assistant referees in this year’s new Europa League, which has taken over from the old UEFA Cup. These two additional assistant referees were located on the goal line at each end of the field of play, in an experiment being conducted by FIFA. It all stems from disputes over the years about whether the ball had crossed the line for a goal or not. Many think that technology would be better. In rugby for instance cameras are used with a ‘television referee’ up in the stand watching replays, but this could mean delays to the game. Football is not like rugby, where it is mainly used to determine whether a try has been scored when the game has already stopped.
However, several companies have come up with technological solutions. Adidas developed a sensitised ball that would give a signal once it crossed the line between the posts. It was trialled at the under 17 World Cup Final in Peru, but FIFA were concerned that the ball’s treatment affected its flight and made it unpredictable. Hawkeye, well known to tennis fans for judging line calls at Wimbledon, produced a version for football which was actually demonstrated at Reading FC’s training ground at Arborfield. This also gave a signal immediately to the referee. Representatives of the FA and the Premier League who witnessed the trial were so impressed, that they went to the International FA Board meeting in March 2008 to ask for an experiment to be carried out in league matches. They were staggered when FIFA completely ruled out any further discussion on goal line technology and instead had their own proposal for two extra assistant referees to tackle this problem. It was trialled last season in the under 19 European Championship qualifying tournaments and this year the Board agreed to extend the experiment in a professional league.
David Moyes, manager of Everton expressed concern before the game that it would lead to more penalties for jersey pulling and blocking. He was right to be concerned for one of FIFA’s justifications for taking this line was that the two extra assistant referees, as well as being line judges, could also cover offences in the penalty area. As it was, during the Everton match, the only indication the goal line assistant seemed to give to the referee, who like his touchline assistant had become unsighted, was a corner from which Everton scored. There did however appear to be less pulling and blocking that we normally see at corners these days, so perhaps players were aware that another pair of eyes was watching their movements. What surprised me was that these extra officials didn’t stand on the goal line but a foot or two behind it at goalmouth incidents. The only place to see if a ball wholly crosses the line is standing on it, looking along it, hoping that players in the goal mouth are not blocking the view. One thing viewers will have noticed is that the two new officials did not have a flag to attract the referee’s attention. They were however wired up to speak to him, so they were using technology after all.
I know that some leading referees are a little concerned about the operation of this scheme but the trials this season will show if it has a future. There have been refereeing experiments before of course. Some years ago there were trials with two referees, one in each half but that never progressed further. However, as it is believed this experiment is the brain wave of Michel Platini, UEFA President and confidant of FIFA President Sepp Blatter, we can be sure it’s going to get a good run.
Dick Sawdon Smith
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© R Sawdon Smith 2009