Makhwengwe, Shangare reject technology in football

BOITUMELO KHUTSAFALO
Staff Writer | Friday July 2, 2010 00:00

 

There are renewed calls to introduce technology to avoid such incidents in future. England were denied a goal which would have tied the score at 2-2 before half time. The goal was disallowed though the ball had clearly crossed the line. FIFA has always stood firm on its decision to reject calls to introduce technology. But after the Lampard incident, there seems to be a change of mind. FIFA president, Sepp Blatter has apologised to England as well as Mexico who were also victims of bad refereeing on the same day after Argentina forward, Carlos Tevez was allowed to race clear and score from an offside position. Blatter was quoted as saying they are considering the use of goal-line technology.

Botswana Football Association (BFA) official, Philemon Makhwengwe, speaking in his personal capacity, said he does not support the idea of goal-line technology in soccer. 'We will be introducing too much science in football of which I disagree with. We will end up having to increase the goalposts if we introduce too much science and technology in  football,' he said. He said that technology will create delays as match officials will always have to refer to a gadget before reaching a decision.

He supported FIFA's previous reason that too much technology will take away the human effect from the game.He said FIFA is doing well with referees as they always take action against officials who commit costly mistakes. He explained that FIFA referees are well trained as they normally attend fitness tests and other courses to prepare them for matches. 'Some sporting codes like rugby and cricket have introduced a technology similar to the one proposed but I do not think that we need it in football,' he said.

National Referees Commission secretary, Marvelous Shangare said though he is aware of the influence of technology in sport, he is against its introduction in football. He said referees should simply be competent to handle matches. 'I do not want to believe that we needed technology to see that the goal that was scored by England was a clear goal. The referee was just not competent,' he added. He explained that referees must be physically, psychologically and mentally fit to handle games of this magnitude. 'That was a clear goal that did not need goal-line technology. The referee and his assistant should have been properly positioned to see that it was a goal,' he said.

Shangare explained that a referee should be about 10 metres away from the ball. He said if the referee in the England-Germany match had observed this, then there was no reason for him not to have seen that Lampard had scored a goal. He said incidents like these do not happen often and therefore the use of technology is not needed. He said all referees at the World Cup level should be able to make correct decisions since they are thoroughly trained.