FIFA to consider adding officials

JOHANNESBURG — The Associated PressPublished on Monday, Nov. 30, 2009 10:28AM EST

FIFA will consider having extra match officials on the field to help referees at next year's World Cup in South Africa.

FIFA president Sepp Blatter says Thierry Henry's hand ball, which led to the goal that sent France to the World Cup at the expense of Ireland, showed that referees needed more help on the field.

The FIFA executive committee will hold an emergency meeting in Cape Town on Wednesday, two days ahead of the draw for the World Cup, to discuss whether to recommend extra match officials.

If they agree, the proposal will go before football's rule-making International Board in Zurich in March for a final decision.

Blatter was speaking Monday at the opening of the Soccerex business conference in Johannesburg.

“There is a lack of discipline and respect in the game by the players because they are cheating,” Blatter said.

“This is human beings trying to get an advantage and this is not good and we have to fight against that. We have only one man on the field of play who shall intervene in this matter. He has two assistants for the time being, perhaps more in the future. He has to make an immediate decision. He has only two eyes. So match control is now is on the agenda. How shall we avoid such situations as we have seen in this very specific match?”

Henry's clear hand ball, first with his arm and then with his left hand, stopped the ball from going out of play before he crossed to teammate William Gallas to score an equalizer for a 1-1 draw with Ireland at Stade de France. That remained the score and France, which had won 1-0 in Dublin, qualified 2-1 on aggregate.

Blatter said the Irish were unhappy to go out of the competition in that way and had written to FIFA to be allowed into the competition as a 33rd team. That will also be discussed at the executive committee meeting on Wednesday.

Because of the clamour for FIFA to take action to help the match officials, the debate is likely to be between using TV technology or extra referees.

As an experiment in the Europa League, UEFA uses five officials, one standing at each end of the field, to help the referee settle disputes in the area, including whether the ball has crossed the line.

Blatter said he was not in favour of using TV technology to settle such disputes.

“With technology, you have to stop a match. You have a look at cameras,” he said. “Now I think there should be some additional (assistants), if they can see or not see.

“We have to maintain the human face of football and not go into technology. I think that goal-line technology, when accurate, we can accept it in international football.”

Blatter said this year's World Cup playoffs led to several disputes which would be discussed at the executive committee meeting. There was concern that such playoffs, where one team gets an advantage of playing the second legs at home, are unfair.

NFL replay review system sucks life out of game

September 14, 2009
CHRIS ZELKOVICH
thestar.com

When it comes to creating a compelling television product, most pro sports leagues look to the NFL for inspiration.

After all, the league that used television to become the success it is today usually gets it right. So why is it that the great NFL can't figure out a replay review system that doesn't send viewers screaming from their living rooms in boredom? The NHL, CFL, tennis and baseball have figured out how to keep these things to a couple of minutes or less. But the NFL, with all its resources and expertise, manages to turn a challenge into a mini-series.

Two challenges during the league's first Sunday illustrated perfectly how the NFL system can suck the life out of any game.

The Cleveland-Minnesota game was clicking along when the Vikings challenged a Braylon Edwards touchdown reception. Over the next six minutes – six minutes! – viewers were treated to the following:

• A series of replays showing Edwards being pushed out of bounds before he caught the pass.
• Two minutes of commercials.
• Close-ups of several coaches, players, officials and fans.
• Fox commentators Brian Billick and Thom Brennaman telling viewers the touchdown was good. 
• Billick calling the challenge a ``lose-lose" for Minnesota.
• Billick and Brennaman deciding it might not be a touchdown after Brennaman explained the rule, which might indicate why Billick is announcing instead of coaching.

By the time officials finally decided that the touchdown didn't count, viewers had lost six full minutes of their lives they'll never get back. You had to wonder if the guys in the replay booth didn't stop for coffee while reviewing the play. Amazingly, Brennaman thought it appropriate to praise the officials and replay booth for getting it right. Right is good. Fast would have been better. So would a Slap Chop infomercial.

Even more amazing was a challenge in the St. Louis-Seattle game. After the Rams blocked a field goal and returned it for a touchdown, there was a challenge because somebody noticed there were 12 Rams on the field. Since this wasn't the CFL, that's not allowed.

So how long do you think it takes to count to 12? I'm figuring 12 seconds if you count using the traditional one-Mississippi rule, double that if you count twice to be sure. Apparently NFL officials use another method as counting to 12 took almost four minutes.

That was enough time for Fox to show four different shots of the Rams formation, complete with computer-generated numbers, all of which showed 12 guys lining up for the kick.I don't know what happened after that, because I changed channels. No doubt many others did, too.