'Ghost goal' just confirms the need for technology

Is it over? Martin Atkinson thinks so...

Another weekend and another poor refereeing decision. In recent weeks we have witness the Clint Hill goal that was not given, Shaun Derry ridiculous red card, Ashley Young diving for two penalties and Chelsea beating Wigan with two offside goals. It seems to be getting worse every week and yesterdays decision by referee Martin Atkinson in the FA Cup semi-final between Chelsea and Tottenham was a joke. How he gave the goal I will never know. I know that he did not make the mistake on purpose and that he genuinely thought the ball had crossed the line, but that is no help to Tottenham's players or fans.

To an extent I do not actually blame referees. They are under enormous pressure and they get an awful lot of abuse. However I would say that they are paid very very well and some decisions are just awful. It has baffled me for years why the referees themselves have not been advocating technology. It would make their job much easier and it can help them with tough decision they are not sure about. If I were a referee I would want it.

The referees have spilt seconds to make a decision and with the pace of the game this makes it very hard.  Another reason is the players. Unfortunately the players cheat and lie and so the referees have to contend with this also. As seen with Ashley Young is the last two weeks. But he is not alone, there are plenty of other culprits. This for me is another reason for technology. Also as a side point why the FA do not reprimand these cheats defeats me. The saying is cheats never prosper however watching football you would not think so. It is the cheats who prosper, win the penalties etc. The classic example being Maradonna in Mexico 1986 with the 'hand of god'. As a child you are taught about fairness and honesty both of which are completely lost on football.

Henry cheating France to 2010 World Cup

I have been a long time advocate of technology in football. My first post on this blog back in 2010 was on the issue. That time it was in light of Thierry Henry's hand-ball (right) against Ireland in the World Cup qualifiers. Here we are two years on and still there is no technology in football. It is an utter disgrace. Football, the biggest and most popular game world-wide. A game watched by millions, played by millions and worth millions and yet it somehow will not embrace technology. The arrogance of FIFA to have said no for so long is disgusting. The likes of Sepp Blatter and Michel Platini are so anti-tecnology they are allowing the game to become laughable. All other sports use it, Rugby League was one of the first and as a great fan of League it was a great move. No Rugby League fan will disagree. The technology does work and should be used. The arguments of slowing the game down are totally ludicrous. As a fan I would rather it took 30 seconds to get the right decision then an instant wrong one. With video technology there is no argument. No players can surround refs and also the pressure is off as they can refer it to the official in the stands with the cameras. It is so obvious. I am so amazed but glad that we have not seen crowd violence due to these sort of decisions. In the modern day these decisions are worth millions of pounds and there is no reason why they should not use the technology. The fact that a man such as Sepp Batter, with his views on the game in the 21st century are laughable. His response to claims of racism in the game proved that.

My view of technology is that it should be used, for any controversial goals and all penalties (due to the cheating players). This view is debatable and I understand and accept the view against this. However the most basic form of it is goal-line technology. For me this is non-neogoiable. It is a must and should have been introduced years ago. I am sure in this years Euro's there is will another decision like this one and it will probably be wrong again, as England found in the 2010 World Cup. This is not a new problem and that is another reason why it is so frustrating.

'Arry got that sinking feeling
on the 100th anniversary of the titanic

People will still say well Chelsea were already winning however that goal had a major impact on the game. A crucial goal at a crucial time. I am not a great fan of Tottenham however even I felt sorry for them as not just Tottenham but Football who is the loser. Harry Redknapp must feel all is against him at the moment as Tottenham's season seems to be disintegrating. There is no doubt all the luck is going against Tottenham at the moment however with five games to go things can change quickly in the Premier League. 

Football needs to make changes if it is gather respect again. The first thing is Goal-line technology, it is a must. Second we need a clamp down on cheating by either diving/feigning injury (both achieved by technology). It is embarrassing when you see grown men acting like they do. Start fining/banning them, only then will things start to change.