If you have been paying any attention at all to the drama that is the World Cup Futbol Event that is going on right now then you may have heard about the several blatantly bad calls made by a series of referees, many of whom most likely now have a price on their head in some country somewhere. In some instances it can be argued that those bad calls may have lead directly to the course of the game being altered (depends on who you talk to really) and in others the bad calls merely caused a mild speed bump for one of the teams. This ongoing theme of bad referee calls has brought about another series of calls that being for instant replay. Sadly, until this World Cup, and the series of bad calls that came with it, FIFA was totally against the concept of instant replay for two reasons:

1. Referees are the ultimate judicial force on a Pitch and thus should never be questioned. (what if he is an idiot?)
2. Futbol is based on a clock that never stops and for some reason FIFA thinks adding in instant replay will change the game both in pace and total time. (Hockey uses Instant replay and the clock doesn’t stop.)

What is missed is the idea that there are not enough referees on a Futbol Pitch to begin with (Right now there is one Referee who reportedly runs something like 12 miles in a single match) as well as the fact that if done right the clock will not stop for an Instant Replay Review. Something needs to be done to make the game a bit clearer and a bit more fair. its a sad day when the team that benefited from a bad call even says that it was a bad call – when that happens you just know it.

What can be done?

1. Instant Replay Review of close calls.
2. Extra referees (The NFL? MLB? Anyone?)
3. Keep the game format – non stop clock. Futbol games actually take less time that American football games because the clock never stop even though on paper they are 50% longer.
4. A goal scanner system can tell you succinctly if the ball entered the goal box. Hockey uses one.

In closing – FIFA, please update your system. It is time honored, yes, but should not be locked in time.