Actually, now you've said that, the more I think about it the more I think the players wouldn't necessarily continue to surround the ref. They certainly don't with the new goal line tech.
Hmm, yea, that's true, but that definitive. As would Offside (although there's all the bull "give the advantage to the attacker". Don't know it that got eradicated when the rule changed recently) Things like a foul in the box, a hand ball or ball to hand. That kind of stuff is not definitive. Depends what decisions get the technology, and which aren't included. A lot of bad decisions are open to interpretation.
I'll concede that those examples of calls would be more difficult, and thus potentially more time-consuming in terms of consulting the video. As you say though, offside decisions shouldn't be a problem.
How long do the reviews in Rugby League take - a minute, maybe two tops ? I would have thought that most footie fans would accept a delay of perhaps 5 minutes a game if it ensured a fair and correct outcome at the end ?
Off-sides and blatant pens could be used. I would like to see maybe: Ref waves away a pen appeal (Say a Player slid in and was nowhere near the ball, but the ref didn't see from his angle). He gets a vibration, like I think he does when he's notified the ball is over the line. From a former ref watching a screen. At that point he stops the game, consults his ear piece, and gets told he has missed a blatant foul and it was a pen. That could all be done in seconds, and would take less time than when the ref has to walk over and talk to the linesman about an incident.
To really simplify things, there's 4 scenarios to consider: Ref blows, correct call: No need for system Ref blows, wrong call: There's a break in play anyway Ref misses something, ball out of play: Within the break in play the ref could be alerted to something,so there's no artificial stoppage. Ref misses something, play continues: The tricky one. So in 3 of 4 scenarios, the technology should be possible to implement without an additional stoppage, and it should be plenty easy enough to add any time required to the end of the game. With subjective decisions, I guess the question is does the sport want to iradicate all wrong decisions, or just the bulk of them? A TV ref can make an informed decision on handballs and fouls which is at least an improvement, and other sports seem happy to allow some human error in these cases. To go any further would require a change in the rules. All hand-ball contact would have to be a foul, all contact with player before ball would be a foul.
Hawkeye claim to be able to do offsides within one second. Give the linesmen a watch like the refs and we may be able to remove another source of easily eliminated errors. We may have to simplify the rule again but the new one is too open for interpretation. I'm a big fan of using technology but I think the implementation will need testing. Perhaps several leagues should agree to different ways if running things for a season then review to see which one worked best.
Another alternative would be the American system where each Coach (Manager) has 3 appeals available in a match (a bit like tennis). That would only be 3 delays in any match. I'd say it has greatly improved the decisions in American football and referees have become much more respected. Respect won't be shown to Refs making wrong decisions.
I wasn't sure how much debate this thread would generate, but it's quite interesting to see how much it has. It seems that there is a general agreement that technology is needed to assist referees and I'd also like to see that any player other than the team captain immediately gets a yellow card for the offence.
Yes the real problem would be when a referee doesn't spot a foul or waves play on like the Jarvis situation. Do you wait for the next time play stops for a video ref to intervene? What if the other team scores immediately on that break? Agree perhaps both captains given1 or 2 appeals per game but that doesn't solve the above problem.
In American football each manager has a red cloth to throw on to the pitch to challenge a decision. Play stops briefly for a video replay.
American Football seems to stop every 10 seconds for a chat anyway. Would never work in "real" footy. Can you imagine a team on the break only for the opposition manager to decide now would be an appropriate time to stop the game by throwing a rag on the pitch... Perhaps the Villa side could throw in a towel but that's different.
The cloth can only be thrown in a break in play, like when the players surround the Ref to appeal. The 4th official could have the replay ready for viewing. Up to 6 one minute breaks in a game wouldn't be a huge thing. Surely that's better than a game being decided by one or more bad decisions.
Well that makes more sense but won't resolve that issue of ref continuing play when a penalty should have been awarded quickly followed by defending team breaking to score the other end. Could the coach appeal when play stops effectively cancelling that goal and coming back for a penalty? I guess it would be correct.
I don't think the challenge/review thing (e.g. 'captain challenges') could really be implemented to be honest. I think it's an example of something that really could take up a lot of time and even after the consideration might still be open to interpretation.
We have lost both matches to Palace this season by bad refereeing calls. Jerome's overhead kick would probably not be given as dangerous play is a debateable concept, but the penalty would surely have been given.
I don't think it could be a player. In the US it's the manager and the decision on the field stands unless there is clear video evidence that the decision is wrong. Again I'd say that's better than a game being decided by one or more bad decisions.
It's fine in American Football though, because there's scope for a lengthy break in play whilst the ref goes 'under the cover' and checks the play over and over again whilst the clock is stopped. Length of footy matches will start to become rather onerous if the clock is stopped or even more time is added on.
