Things I hate about certain sports: No Video Replay in Soccer

Out of all the major sports that dominate the globe, soccer is the only one that refuses to use video replay. How many times have fans witnessed time and time again, calls go the wrong way and the video replay available for the entire world to see over, and over, and over. There are too many occasions where calls by soccer referees are so horribly wrong and the consequences much too high. Why should any team, in the right, be punished for a mistake that could be easily reversed with a simple review? After a quick internet search, arguments against can be summed up to the fact it slows the game and because a referee is human, errors are expected, and therefore fair to cope with. What horseshit. Without even considering all the club teams around the world, international play suffers the worst from this absurdity. Countries waiting four years between World Cups have been screwed over time and time again because of FIFA’s refusal to enter the 21st century. Here’s a blatant fact: people are killed or injured over the happenings within soccer games more than any other sport on the planet. A clear passion like that over results, more than justifies the progression to video technology within a soccer match’s governing bodies. If game speed is the question, do as ice hockey does –a sport with one of the most sophisticated video replay systems in existence- and have a designated group of people at every match ready to review goals; in the Olympics, the IIHF made a rule that all goals are automatically reviewed just to be safe. Furthermore, the pressure placed on three on-field referees (sometimes accompanied by a fourth on the sidelines) is too much to ask of any group of people no matter the extent of their experience with the game. It is a fact that erroneous calls made by referees have laid claim to some of their lives and careers; the implementation of video replay correction would be a sure way to improve their chances of avoiding this. In the end, FIFA is not simply fighting a small group of people who want to see their game evolve and become more efficient; further internet research reveals that the majority of people agree that soccer needs to update how games are managed and video replay is that next major step. We may not get to the diving issue yet, but FIFA is easily within its power to stop the effects of missed calls in top-flight soccer the world entirely. Hey, FIFA, figure it out.



Begrudgingly waiting for another team to be screwed over (because we all know it’s just a matter of time),

Matias M. Barchman