Aug. 18th, 2008
good news, IMO
Aug. 18th, 2008 02:20 pmfrom the 2008 US Soccer Federation Memorandum on Amendments to the Laws of the Game
"The IFAB [International Football Advisory Board] has decided that all experiments involving goal line technology are to be put on ice until further notice."
I would be sorry to see soccer start taking all sorts of techno-measures to "perfect" the game, mostly because these would take away from the human element of the game and instantly transform the world sport into two classes: one at the top where rich, first-world leagues have zoopy electronic equipment, and a huge underclass of football that would be played by the 99% of leagues who didn't have access to that technology. It would start with goal-line sensors, but it would go further, quickly, and begin making the games two entirely different sports. One of the glories of football is that what a bunch of kids do on dirt empty lot in the poorest slum is only marginally different from what happens every week in the EPL or the Bundesliga. I would hate to see that go away.
"The IFAB [International Football Advisory Board] has decided that all experiments involving goal line technology are to be put on ice until further notice."
I would be sorry to see soccer start taking all sorts of techno-measures to "perfect" the game, mostly because these would take away from the human element of the game and instantly transform the world sport into two classes: one at the top where rich, first-world leagues have zoopy electronic equipment, and a huge underclass of football that would be played by the 99% of leagues who didn't have access to that technology. It would start with goal-line sensors, but it would go further, quickly, and begin making the games two entirely different sports. One of the glories of football is that what a bunch of kids do on dirt empty lot in the poorest slum is only marginally different from what happens every week in the EPL or the Bundesliga. I would hate to see that go away.