The beautiful game has been tarred again. For the second time in a row, a major football tournament — Euro 2012 on this occasion — has been mired in a goal-line controversy.
It seems these debates have become part and parcel of international football. After being at the receiving end at the 2010 World Cup, England rode their luck against Ukraine on Tuesday in the last round of Group D matches.
Understandably, Ukraine coach Oleg Blokhin was a bundle of rage and emotion at the touchline.
Why England?
There is a curse that unites England and goal-line controversies. In the 1966 World Cup final at Wembley, England took the lead against West Germany (3-2) in extra-time after a powerful shot from Geoff Hurst bounced off the underside of the crossbar.
Azerbaijan linesman Tofik Bakhramov signalled that the ball had crossed the line. But the furious Germans contested the decision with all their might only to be told by the main referee that the goal would stand.
It was England’s turn to suffer in 2010. Ironically, it was the Germans who benefitted this time as Frank Lampard’s effort was ruled out, even though the ball had gone a couple of yards inside Manuel Neuer’s goal in a last-16 match. Uruguayan assistant referee Mauricio Espinosa was the fall guy in South Africa.
Incredibly, England have once again been sucked into a goal-line debate at Euro 2012. On Tuesday, England goalkeeper Joe Hart got a hand to Ukrainian Marco Devic’s shot but couldn’t prevent it from going in.
John Terry hooked the ball clear after it had completely crossed the line but Hungarian assistant Istvan Vad had no clue about it. Cue chaos.
Human errors inevitable: Uefa president Michel Platini has been proved wrong. The other day he was bullish that the two extra officials on the pitch would take care of goal-line calls.
Ref view: Former Fifa referee S. Suresh feels the latest blunder had almost made the introduction of goal-line technology inevitable.
“At the same time, I feel bad for the Hungarian assistant. It is never easy to spot the ball when it is in the air. I think Fifa will be compelled to act now. I hope the jurisdiction of video assistance isn’t stretched to penalty and offside decisions,” he said.
Pressure on Fifa: There is no escape route for Fifa after the latest catastrophe. Fifa president Sepp Blatter has admitted that the time has come to act.
The International Football Association Board, comprising four representatives from the England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland and four Fifa members, is meeting at Zurich on July 5 to decide on the introduction of goal-line technology.
Fifa has to decide between Hawk-Eye (using multiple cameras) or GoalRef (which uses a chip inside the ball and a magnetic field in goal).
Is technology the cure? It remains to be seen whether the two companies pushing the goal-line technology can guarantee success all the time. The ghost goal in the 1966 final hasn’t been sorted out despite various attempts.
If humans make mistakes, machines may not be infallible either. Fifa would also like to keep the rules of the game the same at all levels.
Besides, Fifa would never do anthing that affects the tempo of the game. That is why it has been resisting calls to introduce technology. The greatest charm of the beautiful game is the universality of its rules.
The sport should be the same for a Sunday evening street game at an impoverished corner of Africa and the World Cup final.
Is Fifa ready for a game-changing rule?