Bad calls prompt FIFA to study high-tech ref help
yahoonews/ AP / Graham Dunbar
30-Jun-2010

JOHANNESBURG – Upon further review, soccer's governing body now agrees that something must be done about the blatant missed calls that have infuriated fans and players alike at the World Cup.

Just what that something is, though, won't even be addressed until after the tournament in South Africa is over.

A high-tech solution is possible, but it probably would address only that most egregious of refereeing mistakes: whether or not the ball crosses the goal line. Even putting the idea on the table, however, is a concession for an organization that has long insisted that errors by officials are simply part of the game.

FIFA president Sepp Blatter said Tuesday that changes will be considered, and that he has apologized to the English and Mexican teams, both of which were victims of bad calls Sunday. Several other teams were incorrectly denied or granted goals earlier in the World Cup.

Blatter said "something has to be changed" to prevent similar embarrassments in the future.

"After having witnessed such a situation," Blatter said, "we have to open again this file, definitely."

>>>
recommended by Monda

Share/Save/Bookmark