Another weekend of competitive football, another controversial goal line incident. According to the country's pundits and everyone involved with Stoke City, the header from Jon Walters clearly crossed the line despite Crouch's best efforts and it joins the 'goals' of Lampard, Pedro Mendes and Luis Garcia sitting on Sepp Blatter's desk marked 'Goal Line Technology - Get on it'.
Chris Foy has been vilified by the media for missing another clear example of the ball crossing the line. The fact is he couldn't have given that goal. He would deserve more criticism if he had given it. From where he was standing there was no way he could have seen if the ball had 100% crossed the line. Maybe it did, maybe it didn't. Foy wasn't sure so he looked over to the linesman to see if he was sure, but the linesman wasn't sure either. You can't give a goal on a guess. Clattenburg was about 60 yards away when Mendes's shot bounced over the line at Old Trafford, he couldn't have been sure. Criticism should be aimed at the linesman, he should have been better placed and should have seen the ball cross the line. When Lampard 'scored' against Germany, the linesman was again perfectly placed but for some reason did not give the goal. From the referee's postion some 30 yards from goal, he couldn't be sure.
Foy couldn't have possibly won with that decision. If he had given the goal, comparisons would have been made with Luis Garcia's goal against Chelsea in the Champions League a few years back. The general consensus is now that the ball probably didn't cross the line. The referee couldn't possibly have been 100% sure and so gave the goal on a guess. Maybe the Anfield atmosphere and the importance of the 'goal' swayed his decision. This deserves much greater condemnation. Foy had his hands tied by the rules and FIFA's lack of technology and made the correct decision. Why this incident remains controversial is FIFA's fault.
So what can FIFA do? I personally remain unconvinced by the extra officials behind the goal. The 'did it or didn't it cross the line' debate happens fairly infrequently and having two men stationed just for this seems like a waste of man power. Talk of sensors in the goal or in the ball seems like an accident waiting to happen when defenders or goalkeepers are standing right on the line. The best bet in my opinion would be a cricket-style 3rd umpire or referral system. If the referee is not sure if the ball crossed the line, he should have the power to stop the game to consult with an extra official with access to a TV replay and then either give the goal or restart play with a drop ball. Another method could be the attacking team asking for a cricket-style referral, although this would throw up questions of the referee's authority and could be used tactically to deny counter-attacks etc.
I am aware there will always be people saying that referees are always at fault if they get a decision wrong or that TV replays slow down the game, but I have no doubt that if a TV replay was used at the Britannia on Saturday, results would have proved inconclusive and the official's original decision would stand, as often happens in the cricket. TV replays would have shown likewise that the goals of Mendes and Lampard would have rightfully stood and we would be able to get back to criticising referees for missing handballs, red cards and diving. As it ought to be.
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