By Andrew Warshaw
August 18 – FIFA president Sepp Blatter has renewed his call for managers to each be allowed two tennis-style challenges against contentious officiating decisions during matches. Blatter first made his surprise suggestion during FIFA’s annual congress in Sao Paulo, Brazil, in June, raising eyebrows among delegates since he had hitherto been opposed to any video aids other than goal-line technology.
Writing in FIFA magazine The Weekly, Blatter admits he has changed his mind and that now is the time to progress the game further following the implementation of goalline technology and vanishing spray.
“I too rejected technological aids in the past,” he writes. “But there is no use sticking to entrenched positions and clinging to principles for the sake of it. Our objective must be to make football more transparent and credible and to support referees in their difficult task.”
Any change would require agreement from the International Football Association Board (IFAB), guardians of the game’s rules.
Blatter’s latest stance on how to develop the game is in stark contrast to his original position. In four years, he has moved from being completely opposed to any technology to being open to radical change.
“Goal-line technology at the World Cup was a complete success. It will be introduced in all the top leagues sooner or later. The vanishing spray for referees, mocked as a quaint oddity not so long ago, has become an overnight success. These examples demonstrate that technological aids can help us progress in football,” he wrote.
“This is why I would like to bring another idea into play, the one I raised at Congress in Sao Paulo: the option of video challenges for coaches in the case of disputed decisions. Fears that this innovation could change the character of the game are unfounded, provided this technical aid is treated with caution and with suitable restrictions.”
Blatter’s proposal would only apply when there is a halt in play and would therefore “not cause any additional interruptions and would barely disturb the flow of the game.”
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