The Didier Drogba strike which went through Heurelho Gomes’s hands as well as the apparently offside goal scored by Salomon Kalou appeared to have given Chelsea three points which they should never have had.
First there was Drogba’s goal. To me on first viewing, the ball looked over the line. It is undoubtedly further over the line than not. Yet the rules of the game say the whole of the ball must be over. Without knowing for sure, and it is hard to do so on TV with a replay, let alone live, it is unsurprising that the linesman opted to guess that it had crossed the line.
And then the offside. Again, on first glance, Kalou appears level. Only on a very close inspection of a replay can it be proven that he was offside. Once more, how the linesman or referee are expected to be able to get this decision correct and be 100% sure that they have done so, god only knows. I certainly did not, with a TV replay. Twice
But the rules of the game clearly state that the ball must be entirely over the line. There is no discretion, no room for guesswork. The same with offside. These are either ‘they are’ or they ‘are not’ decisions; they are not up to individual interpretation. So allowing this ridiculous situation to continue where video technology is not used to assist officials in making what are sometimes, as was the case on Saturday, very very difficult calls, is absurd.
Video technology would have also helped on Sunday too. Arsenal played Manchester United, and Nemanja Vidic clearly punches the ball away from Robin van Persie as he looks to head the ball home. A clear penalty, and probably a red card, but then Manchester United had a penalty shout of their own when Gael Clichy appeared to tread on Michael Owen’s foot as he ran through on goal in the area.
Both denied clear goalscoring opportunities, and the failure of officials to spot and punish the offending players in both circumstances demonstrates the urgent need to introduce technology into the sport. Who knows what would have happened if Vidic had been sent off? Perhaps United would have collapsed completely? Or maybe Arsenal would have missed the penalty and United adopt a defensive structure which enabled them to take a 0-0 draw and thus keep far enough ahead of Chelsea to afford defeat this weekend?
We simply do not know, and it is time for these difficult, but crucial, decisions to be made by officials using technology, which can be definitive and accurate, and not allow the status quo of guesswork and fortune to affect the biggest of decisions.
