Refereeing : Still A Bone Of Contention

In an era of advanced technology, it remains rather mind-boggling to continue debating about refereeing decisions. In a tournament described by FIFA as the ‘best ever’, the refereeing remained one of the blotted spot in the report card. 

Where Technology Worked
Heading into the tournament, FIFA announced the introduction of the semi-automated offside technology. The new technology uses 12 dedicated tracking cameras mounted underneath the roof of the stadium to track the ball and up to 29 data points of each individual player, 50 times per second, calculating their exact position on the pitch. In addition, the official match ball which had a sensor placed inside, provided more vital elements for the detection of tight offside incidents. The Chairman of the FIFA Referees Commission, Pierluigi Colina and FIFA's Director of Technology and Innovation, Johannes Holzmüller explained the technology will offer a support tool to the VAR team and the on-field officials to help them make faster, more accurate and more reproducible offside decisions. The technology did work to greater effects in a couple of games. It was used to effect on match day one to rule out a goal scored by Ecuador after a marginal offside was detected. The Indomitable Lions of Cameroon were beneficiaries of the semi-automated offside technology which was used in awarding their two goals against Serbia despite the on-field officials first flagging for offside. Controversial as it may be, Japan’s goal against Spain on match day III of the group stage was awarded thanks to technology which adjudged all of the ball did not cross all of the line.

Technology Cannot Replace Man
Despite the advanced use of technology which enhanced some on-field decisions, referees seem to have lost the plot especially in the latter part of the knockout stages with their decisions making more headlines at the end of matches than results. Spanish referee Antonio Mateu Lahoz was in the spot light from both sets of players after the quarter finals game between Argentina and the Netherlands which saw him ditch out 18 yello...