Ireland vs. France: Travesty and Technology; What Can We Do to Fix Football?

What a sad night.

What a sad, sad night.

Hell ya, I shed a tear. I shed a tear or 10.

We deserved to win. But we didn't.

Now...where can I point this big foam finger?

Who can I blame?

Which goat shall I scape today?

Paul McShane - In fairness, he tried his little ginger best (which just isn't very good).

Thierry Henry - Although I can appreciate his Gaelic footballing ability, perhaps his actions were suited for a slightly larger pitcher, filled with a larger number of slightly uglier men. However, really...I mean really ...can you sit there, laptop resting on your testicles, or ovaries, and say you wouldn't have done the same thing?

The ball is going out. You are in extra time. Nobody is going to see (except the thousands in attendance and the millions watching around the world). Give the ball a little flick with your wrist, keep it in, pass it to Bill, and book your flight RSA.

You would all do the same things.

Anyone who wouldn't is either:
A) A liar
B) Mentally disabled
C) A filthy, stinking liar
D) Morally righteous. Then I would vomit on you repeatedly, so as to attempt to corrode your Holier-than-thou skin to see if you would melt or rust.
E) A gobshite. I mean, we are talking about sending your country to the World Cup finals. Most of the time you get one shot. If you are lucky you get two. And only legends of the sport get three or more shots. Actually , most of the time you never get a shot! So, you can engage in a little bit of gamesmanship and con the referee by taking your shot, or you can play fair and kick some penalties.

Alright, I'm obviously being facetious: What Titi did was wrong.

It's hard to say that because this is an Arsenal blog (normally) and, for me, Thierry Henry is God, or at least an angel with god-like abilities (such as his divine dribbling and celestial speed).

But you are not allowed to handle the ball. It's pretty much the simplest rule one can think of regarding football. The game is designed to be played with your less dexterous limbs. Otherwise it would be called rugby.

However, it is not the players who are consigned the task of enforcing the rules of the game. It is the referees , the match officials . They are the ones who control the conduct on the field. They are the ones who tell you if what you did is right or wrong.

It is very rare, nearly never, when you will see a player put down his hand when a ball is kicked out of play and say, "It's the other team's ball. It went out off me!"

In fact, if someone was to say this, I think Thierry Henry would be high on the list of athlete's who would admit fault when they had done something wrong. You have already heard Titi say that he did touch the ball, but it was not intentional.

Which is something that is being conveniently forgotten, as well.

The ball was going freaking fast, lads. The cross was swung in. It missed everyone's head (including Dicky Dunne's and, more disparagingly, Ginger McBane of my existence). It skips off the grass and hits Thierry's arm.

Watch the replay again. I don't think he goes to control it. And even if he does, he's got less than a second to think what to do with it. It's not as if he placed the ball on his foot and cushioned into Gallas' path. (Before you jump down my throat, this is incredibly painful for me to write, so please do not question my nationality. I'm Irish like a lot of you who are going to read this article, and my broken heart has been bleeding green since final whistle yesterday.)

Anyway, I'm not trying to justify his actions, just perhaps putting things in perspective. I don't think his intention was to cheat the referee; I think his intention was to do what he could to see his team through to South Africa. I think he reacted instinctively to save an unplayable ball, and unfortunately the better team went out, and another nation went through.

Justice was not done on two counts:

1. A player has scored after an abuse of the rules of the game, and

2. The team that deserved to go through has been left behind (We should also remember that this could have happened even if the goal was disallowed: Ireland still needed to put away some penalties in front of a boatload of Frogs)

So whose fault is it then, Adam? My foam finger is starting to get sore!

The Referee - Well, it is his duty to enforce the rules of the game. Yes, he should have seen it, and if he didn't see it, his linesman should have seen it.

But I can understand. We are not infallible. Nobody sees everything all the time.

The linesman was busting his butt to get in line with the last defender and probably should have seen that France was offside when the set piece was taken. However, this is a tough thing to do.

Essentially, you have to look in two places at once: To your left to see when the ball is kicked and in front of you, to see where the blue guys are when the ball is kicked.

I'm not a linesman, but I'd say it's harder than it looks.

The referee probably was in a good position to see almost everywhere else, unfortunately Paul McBane of my existence and his big ginger mop was probably blocking the referee's line of sight and the balom .

So, yes, it is the referee's fault. However, people make mistakes. We will continue to do so until the end of time. It is impossible to be perfect, and even more impossible to be perfect all the time.

It is perfectly impossible to be impossibly perfect (This makes little sense but I quite like it all the same).

So, I'm not really willing to place the blame on the lads in black. In fact, I remember thinking during the game (I believe after 90 minutes) that the referee had been outstanding and probably gotten every decision, little or big, correct. (I look to hearing from those in the viewing audience who enjoy unnecessary incessant arguments).

Well who is at fault, then ?

You want to know who is at fault!? You want to know who to point the freaking finger at!? You want to know the name of the new Facebook group you should join if you want to avoid things like this happening in the future?!

FIFA.

FIFA??? What the hell have they got to do with it?

I mean, sure they appointed the referee, but they couldn't control his actions, couldn't control what they did or did not see (Although if they could through telekinesis, the incredible "coolness" of that would only be surpassed by its fantastic terror).

You want to know why? Because for years, FIFA has neglected to introduce technology in order to cut crap like this out of football. This isn't the first time this has been brought up either.

Freaking years . Three hundred and sixty-five days multiplied by numbers larger than one.

There is technology available to the powers that be: the rule making body of the sport we all know and love. However, Blatter keeps bleeting on about keeping football the same at the grassroots and professional level, and that technology will eliminate some of the human element of football.

Bollocks .

Has tennis gotten worse with Hawkeye?

Have people stopped following the NFL since the introduction of challenges and instant replay?

Yes, but these are sports with stoppages in play.

Okay...what about rugby? Rugby has only become more popular and more professional since the introduction of technology into the sport, and the stoppages in play in rugby are comparable to a football game (they did, after all, derive from the same sport).

So stick that argument up your stodgy little arses.

FIFA has neglected its duty to review the rules and regulations of football and bring them in line with the demands of those involved in the world of sport today. They have made limited attempts to integrate goal-line technology into football, testing one product at one tournament (U20 in 2007 or something), but after some unfortunate malfunctioning of the product, FIFA and UEFA have scrapped the idea and decided rather than using more effective "eyes" that we should, to add more chefs to the pot and use six more referees in Europa league matches this season.

Clearly this eliminates the biggest problem with referees. The capacity for human error.

Oh wait...no it doesn't...

Freaking idiots.

The integration of instant replay and goal-line technology could help resolve the many flashpoints within the 90 minutes of a soccer match with no significant delay to the fluidity of the proceedings (Furthermore, I believe referees do have the ability to tack on added time for stoppages at the end of the 90 minutes. I hear at some stadiums the clocks work differently than others though—link ).

Why Should FIFA/UEFA/the Relevant FA Incorporate the Use of Technology into the Regulations of the Game?

1. To help the appointed referees, who are so consistently hung out to dry by their respective associations, confederations, and federations. They are generally not allowed to talk to the press after a match, having perhaps made a questionable decision, and are made the fall-guys of almost every bad decision. It is about time that these people were given a break. I doubt there is a professional (in attitude, not in job title) referee who wouldn't like some help when having to decide if there was contact for a penalty, or if the ball had crossed the line.

2. To [help] eliminate diving (one of the scourges of the modern day game) from football. The players who attempt to con the referee and gain an advantage in the game by abusing the rules would be reprimanded rather than rewarded for their poor gamesmanship and unsporting antics (Think Rooney v. Arsenal in the 50th Match unbeaten streak, or Eduardo against Celtic in UCL Qualifying this Sept., or Cristiano Ronaldo when...well. whenever someone farts near him in the box.).

3. To help referees make split-second decisions regarding goal mouth scrambles. To prevent the awarding of phantom goals, and the disallowing of actual goals. I think we can all remember a situation where a ball may or may not have crossed the line, or even entered the goal, where we would have liked some clarification or a different, more equitable result. Think Liverpool Chelsea UCL, when Mourinho was in charge of the Chavs. Think Reading's ghost goal against Watford last season.

4. Most importantly, to stop the existence of gross injustice in the sport. We only need to think as far back as yesterday to recall a situation where the use of the eyes of a camera, and the instant playback onto a monitor for the fourth official, could have stopped France from scoring a goal, which resulted from a breach in the rules of the game.

However, also think of Chelsea against Barcelona in the second leg at Stamford Bridge last season. when they were denied two stone wall and three questionable penalty decisions in their favour, which would have surely put the tie out of reach for the Catalans. 

Why Is This So Important?

Well, we can sit here and shed tears about the WC hopes and dreams of Richard Dunne, Kevin Kilbane, Damien Duff, and Shay Given perhaps having died in France. They all might never get another chance to represent their country in the world's grandest tournament.

We can all say that it's about time the saddened fans, whose hearts have been broken by bad officiating on many occasions, can finally trust that the system won't rob them of what is rightfully theirs.

However, this isn't the reason that technology must be incorporated into football.

What is, then?!

Freaking money. Freaking cash.

Think of the amount of money in football these days. Think about how much the FAI is going to lose as a result of Ireland missing the plane to RSA. Think about how much money Chelsea lost after missing out on an appearance in the CL final last season. Think about how much money Arsenal may have lost because Eto'o was ruled onside instead of offside and there was no technology to clear up the situation.

We are talking about millions of Euro now, and it is the legal and economic responsibility of FIFA, as the drafters of the documents which govern the game we know and love, to draft them in a manner which observes the highest standard of care.

They have failed to meet the required standard of care and they have breached their duty to provide their members with an adequate level of policing, legislating, and governing.

I think it is time for a change. Let's bring technology into football so we can leave poor Thierry alone. He, after all, is not the one to blame here.

ArsenalAdam