It's a safe bet that use of technology in sport makes it fairer

Other / Paul Moon / 03 December 2007 / Leave a Comment

Pablo Luna - Moonlighting for Betfair. Pablo looks at the use of Hawkeye, video umpires and goal-line technology in sport

In sport I have always been considered a traditionalist and a realist. I am now compliant to the use of video technology. It is now essential in certain areas of certain sports. It is not easy to draw a line where it starts and where it ends so I think we have to take the one-case-at-a- time approach. In sport there is now such a thin line between success and failure involving millions of pounds, jobs and heartache that we have to accept a more contemporary and open approach. There will be those 'stick in the muds' who say 'over my dead body' but if we have a chance to make sport cleaner then we must! Sport is in need of this innovation.

Video technology is essential in tennis today. The balls are hit so hard and fast it's impossible for line judges to be exact. The 'Hawkeye' machine they had at Queens was excellent and should be used, we cannot rely on civil servants with glasses thinking about what to have for tea, to determine who wins those crucial points. The technology of emitting invisible laser beams along all the lines exists, so I don't understand why this isn't used all the time in tennis and other sports. When a tennis ball hits the line, it obstructs the laser, and so it is proof of where it landed. It was trialled at the Hopman Cup in Australia a few years ago, and has an accuracy of more than one millimetre. A correct call every time! The key factor is this message can be transmitted immediately to the referee allowing him to take an instantaneous decision without interrupting play. I do not want to go down 'the challenging of decisions' route outside tennis. Can you imagine that happening in team sports (visions of Manchester United players surrounding and haranguing the referee spring to mind).

In ice hockey, the use of video to show if the puck has crossed the goal line has become a familiar feature of National Hockey League (NHL) games for a decade. It has enhanced that sport. The use of technology for the photo finish or video to assist the stewards in horseracing is now accepted as essential and has actually added to the excitement! Clear examples of technology helping sport!

Unfortunately not all sports are so clear cut. Video replays have not removed all arguments in American football. It is still down to the judgement of the official with his human frailties to interpret the pictures but still better than the naked eye in real time.

In Rugby League and cricket the video ref/third umpire can still make questionable decisions but they get it right most of the time. The most recent video proved that Mark Cueto's foot was in touch before grounding the ball so it was right to refer then disallow the try scored by in the 2007 Rugby World Cup Final. Sport was the winner.

Usually daft FIFA president Sepp Blatter has said goal line technology will be in place at the 2007 World Club Cup in Tokyo in December and I think this is a good place to start. Using the chip-in-ball goal-line technology, the referee will receive a visual signal on his watch when the ball containing a microchip crosses the goal line in the Club World Cup. I do not want video for penalties or free-kicks because the magnificence of the game is the pace and intensity at which it is played! There had been widespread calls for new technology after Spurs were denied a winner against Manchester United despite Pedro Mendes' effort clearly crossing the line. The FA is willing to consider any goal-line technology that would improve decision-making while not disrupting the flow of the game. The FA stressed it was against any wider use of video replays and I fully support that view.

Of course, there are those who will say that arguing about Geoff Hurst's winning goal for England in 1966 and Diego Maradona's "Hand of God" strike for Argentina 20 years later makes the game richer. What do you think? Fairer or richer? I prefer fairer! There will always be plenty of talking points without resorting to the decisions of the officials.

It is irrefutable that technology has affected sport in a positive fashion so far, the danger is letting it dominate it at the exclusion of the soul of that particular sport.

I would introduce goal line technology for Football's Euro 2008. We do not need feedback post Tokyo, we know it works. Let us eliminate now the controversy that is absolutely guaranteed to occur in that tournament! Latest odds for Euro 2008 are Germany [6.4] Italy [7.2] Spain [9] France [9.2] Holland [11.5] and Portugal [12.5] with Betfair. One of the first four in the betting will win the competition for sure so a real opportunity to stagger your investments.