FIFA explains why it’s so anti-technology: Wants to keep things equal, maintain human element

Sepp Blatter (left), the FIFA president, has explained why there won’t be goal-line technology at this year’s World Cup, saying he wants the sport to maintain a “human element” and that all levels of soccer, from 6-year-old kids to open-goal-missing Gonzalo Higuaín of Real Madrid, need to be played with the same rules. Whatever you say, Sepp. I hope for your sake a Spain or Italy or Brazil don’t get knocked out of the tournament because of a controversial goal; you won’t hear the end of it.

So mighty Sepp, who’s apparently one of the most powerful men on Earth according to someone who appeared on World Football Daily the other day (again, a fine podcast, well worth the $5/month I pay), had this to say:

No matter which technology is applied, at the end of the day a decision will have to be taken by a human being. This being the case, why remove the responsibility from the referee to give it to someone else? It is often the case that, even after a slow-motion replay, ten different experts will have ten different opinions on what the decision should have been.

I love how we’re praising the idea of debating outright wrongheaded decision because it makes the sport exciting. What’s so wrong with wanting to see the right decisions being made, even if it’s at the “expense” of post-match pub debates?

But whatever, I’ve already written quite a bit about the subject.

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