I am an impartial overseas supporter of the World game, which is Football.
The events of yesterday’s game Arsenal – Bayern Munich and Tuesday’s game Manchester City – Barcelona made a complete mockery of the Sport I have adored since watching the 1990 World Cup in the wee hours of the morning with my father.
Both of these aforementioned games were essentially ‘killed’ by sending offs, which would not have been given if a video challenging system was in place.
In the case of Manchester City, their defender was sent off when the tackle was arguably instigated just outside the penalty box. Even if the tackle continued into the penalty area, did the defender Martin Demichelis deserve a red card?
In the game with Arsenal yesterday, the Arsenal goalkeeper was given his marching orders after an accidental check against Bayern Munich’s ‘Robben’ which did deserve a penalty, but a sending off? A penalty is sufficient punishment when the challenge is accidental. I agree with Arsenal’s coach Arsene Wenger – Referee killed the game.
Both Arsenal and Manchester City were down to 10 men in the second half and of course at this level of high intensity football both beleaguered teams had next next to zero chance of remaining competitive. In fact both teams lost 2-0. I told my better half after the Arsenal sending off – ‘Bayern will win 2-0… turn the tv off love‘.
Poor referring and the lack of a video challenge system is killing the game I love. Just about every other major sport has a video challenge system which enables for game changing referring decisions to be reviewed. Even Major League Baseball managers are getting ready to test expanded replay reviews of umpire’s decisions for the 2014 season.
In a sport which has been riddled by match fixing and corruption you would think an organisation like FIFA to demonstrate transparency would be on the front foot with regards to modernising their game in line with other sports. The new Goal line technology video system isn’t anything near what is required to move the game in the right direction. Major changes are required to’ in game’ refereeing such as incorporating a maximum of two video Coach’s challenges for each team per game, similar to that used in the National Football League (NFL).
Why is the governing authority of the most popular sport in the World so backward about coming forward? I just hope something like what occurred in the last 2 days does not happen in a World Cup final. If it does happen, it will be the straw that broke the camel’s back.
“The more I live, the more I learn. The more I learn, the more I realize, the less I know.”- Michel Legrand
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