Before kick-off in yesterday's games FIFA announced their decision to ban snoods from the 1st of July (when it'll be warm enough that no one will wear them anyway):
"The IFAB agreed that in relation to Law 4 - Players' Equipment, the wearing of snoods should not be permitted"
At the same time they said that discussions of video technology would continue for another year. This is, quite frankly, ridiculous. The level of technology available is clearly at the level required to be useful to the football. It is used in tennis, rugby and cricket. It is used in the media to lambast referees when they've made the wrong decisions. And it is fast enough to stop the main objection to its use, that it would slow the game down too much. The game stops anyway after contentious decisions are (or are not) made when players crowd the referee.
There is supposed to be a 'respect' campaign being run by the FA but time and again players from top teams are seen attempting to intimidate the referees and assistants but yellow cards are not normally given out.
The lack of respect for referees would be addressed if big decisions, ones that could potentially change the course of a team's season, didn't rely on split second judgement calls. The burden on the referee would be lessened if they had the safety net of a video replay. The fourth official watches a monitor during the game anyway, for goodness' sake. If the players knew that they could shout and scream at the official all they liked but the decision would ultimately be made on the basis hard evidence then the intimidation would become pointless.
Another key bone of contention is the fact that the FA (under threat from FIFA) are loathe to review incidents that have been 'dealt with' by the referee on the day for fear of undermining him. This doesn't seem logical to me. If you are wrongfully arrested by a police officer you don't go to court and hear that unfortunately you'll have to be sent to prison because the CPS don't want to undermine the policeman's authority. Surely we want to protect the players on the pitch and the game itself, rather than the referee's ego.
It would also seem logical to have referees explain decisions that they made during the game. The laws of the game regarding certain actions are complex and require very specific interpretation. The average football fan doesn't have the relevant level of understanding of the laws and even top journalists and pundits get the rules wrong. If the referee gave a post-match interview and explained why they had made certains decision then they would promote understanding of the rules, and referees as a group would not be seen as the unaccountable closed circle that they appear to be currently.
The infamous Rooney elbow from Manchester United's game with Wigan springs immediately to mind when discussing this but there are countless other similar examples. During today's game between Manchester United and Liverpool, Jamie Carragher wanted to let Nani 'know he was there' (to use the oft-quoted line) and caused a potentially serious injury.
Because of the fact that both incidents were 'dealt with' at the time (bizarrely Mark Clattenburg told the FA that he felt he had dealt with the Rooney incident properly; either he didn't see the elbow, in which case he's a liar, or he did see it and still felt that he dealt with it properly, in which case he is incompetent) no further action can be taken. Rooney gets away with not punishment for elbowing a fellow player in the head, and Carragher gets away with a yellow card having made a challenge that could have caused a very serious injury.
And the net result of these events is even closer scrutiny of, and consequently even more pressure on, the officials. Human error is inevitable, especially when there is such intense pressure involved, and therefore it is baffling that the powers-that-be haven't brought in video replays already. It seems especially peculiar given that replays of the incident are often shown to all inside the ground on the big screens anyway. Alleviating some of the pressure on referees, and helping them out with their near-impossible job will lead to less perceived errors and bias. It will also make the game itself the main focus once again.
NB Wanting to make the rules of football applicable at all levels is not an acceptable reason not to use technology any more. Sunday pub team games do not involve the vast sums that are involved in top level football. The standard of the officials, pitches and equipment involved are not the same. It is the same game, but played under vastly different circumstances and with vastly different repercussions.
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