FIFA has accepted the goal-line technology after a series of doubtful situations. The technology has been discussed earlier on this blog but is highly relevant once again.

It has been discussed for a couple of years, but now it is a reality; FIFA has approved the goal-line technology. I have earlier expressed my fear for the future of football, if it got to technical and I am still not convinced this is the right solution to the “ghost-goal” problem. However, the EURO 2012 proved to us that adding an extra pair of eyes on the goal did not help on the problem. It was almost humiliating to see how a referee, which only job was to keep an eye on the goal, did not see whether the ball crossed the line. At the moment, the goal-line technology seems to be the only solution. That said, how often do we see a “ghost-goal”? 1 out of a 100 matches?

My fear for the future of football is not whether or not a ball crossed the line. It is the fear that adding one technology to the game will be followed up by another. Michel Platini said, during a press conference that the goal-line technology could be followed up by a ‘technology for offside decisions as well’. Platini is right; this current technology frenzy does not stop with the goal-line. Sooner or later we will have the offside technology, censors telling us if the player committed a foul or even a technology telling the referee whether or not the wall is in the correct distance from the free kick. As the UEFA-president said:

'I am against technology coming into force to actually make decisions’.

FIFA has now opened a door for the technology, and thereby for a new future for football. I can only hope that, at some point, this technology adventure will end, instead of making our beloved passion into a videogame. No matter what, I am going to miss the mystique about whether or not the ball crossed the line, but as humans has done for centuries: I’ll adapt to the changes.