We welcome back US based Spurs fan and host of the EPL Roundtable podcast Kevin DeVries. In part two of this extremely topical subject he looks at the effect of video technology in American sports and how it could work in football.
Let’s be honest, the FA are so scared of progress they ask their parents to check for it under their bed at night.
With the staggering amount of woeful decisions on red cards, penalties, offsides and the like it’s clearly time for change, but how should they do it? I’m sure the thought of adding a selective yet effective system for eliminating error seems daunting but it doesn’t have to be! We just need to look over to the good ol’ US of A for guidance.
The National Football League (NFL) has a long storied history with instant replay. This is probably the best example to study as it arguably has the most developed and integrated system in the world of sport. Under the current system implemented in 2012 there are three categories under which all plays fall.
Automatically Reviewed:
– Scoring plays
– Turnovers
– Any contentious call in the final two minutes of either half
Challengeable:
– Ball placement
– Sideline
– Possession
– Basically anything that’s not…
Unchallengeable:
– Judgement calls
– Accidental whistles
– Clock issues
I can hear you shouting at your screen “Woah Kev, what does that all mean? Slow down!”. Creepy right? Yeah, my hearing is crazy good.
Anyway, automatically reviewed plays are run by the officiating crew with no input from either team. For challengeable plays each team has two challenges that it can use throughout the game, if both challenges are successful they are awarded a third. On the flip side, If your challenge is unsuccessful you lose a timeout. This limited approach to replay is exactly what is needed for it to be successful in the world of soccer (I know it’s called football. Seriously, what is it with you and shouting at your screen?!).
Everyone constantly complains that replay would be too difficult to implement, but I’m a man of solutions so here’s what I propose:
Automatically reviewed:
– Goals
– Red cards
– Penalty calls
– Any contentious call in the final 5 minutes of either half
Challengeable:
– Offsides
– Yellow cards
– Free kick placement
– Corners
Unchallengeable:
– Minor fouls
– Throw ins
– Extra time
Under this format almost all of the automatically reviewed plays would happen during stoppages which avoids the overblown issue of slowing down the beautiful game. Unlike the NFL there are no “timeouts” so to penalize failed challenges I propose that the team lose a substitution, unless they have used them all already.
In this case, the team would not be able to challenge. More simply put – 1 challenge = 1 substitution. While this may not happen the mere fact that we’re discussing it is a huge step in the right direction.
Now get some sleep dear FA and dream of a better tomorrow, the monster under your bed is gone.
We would like to hear your thoughts on this two part article and the subject as a whole. Get in touch with us on Twitter.
