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2010 World Cup Controversies

The 2010 world cup was full of moments of victory, moments of defeat, and moments where errors were made. However, two errors occurring simultaneously in two separate games may have a huge impact on the world of soccer forever. Human error is common in sports and referees have always made mistakes, but these particular mistakes are forcing FIFA to consider succumbing to the usage of video replay during games of high importance. Coaches, players and members of the FIFA staff are begging for video replay as they blame the mistakes for sending two teams home early in this crucial tournament. Fans claim that these mistakes are responsible for “ruining years of preparation in a matter of seconds”,. and they say these errors will not be forgotten anytime soon. In a cry for help, Sepp Blatter, the president of Fifa, says that people need to understand that video replay will drastically change the characteristic fast pace of the game. These errors are forcing everyone to look for a way to make refereeing more accurate and less at chance for human fault; something that only technology can take care of.

England versus Germany Match-Up

The first error occurred in the England versus Germany game on June 29th, 2010. It was the late afternoon when England’s Frank Lampard ran down the field and took a shot just outside the penalty area. Lampard shot the ball and the ball hit the crossbar and bounced over the goal line and then out onto the field of play, but it was not awarded as a goal. Jen Witte, an unbiased photographer captured a photo, which can be seen in the left hand margin that clearly shows the ball past the goal line. One can clearly see the ball crossing the line as Germany’s goalie merely watches the ball go into the goal. As the ball crosses the goal line, fans went wild but referee Javier Aguirre claims the ball never crossed the line and kept play going. England was trailing by one at the time this error occurred and this would have been the tying goal.

Mexican players complain to Referee, Robert Rossetti after he made a critical call during the game versus Argentina

Mexico versus Argentina Match-Up

The second error that occurred was directly following this game, it was during the Mexico versus Argentina match. Though this game played out differently in scoring and how the teams performed, the reactions of the fans and players were the same as referee Robert Rossetti made a mistake fans would be talking about for weeks. Jamie Trekker, an unbiased reporter for fox sports, wrote in his article that Argentina’s, Carlos Tevez had run down the sideline and scored a goal from a clearly off sides position. Trekker writes sarcastically that, “Replays rapidly showed how wrong these calls were. The players knew it. The coaches knew it. The Jumbotron operator knew it. My aunt in Rhode Island, some 10,000 miles from the stadium, knew it. And according to the BBC, during the halftime intermission, the referees found out about it — and were devastated by it”. Although these mistakes were split second decisions that could easily have been made by anyone, these were errors that affected a majority of people whose lives depend on the world cup. Players and coaches desperately expressed to the media how much disappointment and anger they felt towards the referees after these errors were made.

Coach’s and Player’s Perspectives

All of the coaches and the players involved in these two slip-ups felt the impact of the errors the most, as they were forced to suffer the consequences.

Javier Aguirre

Coach, Javier Aguirre of Mexico and Fabio Capello of England both were extremely devastated with the calls made against their teams on June 29th, 2010. Aguirre’s frustration was made clear when he ended up resigning after the World Cup, saying that it was his time to go. He commented on the mistake of the referee bitterly as he claims the off sides goal made his team lose their concentration and he believes it is a shame that “referees and linemen can make split-second decisions that will spoil everything”.

Fabio Capello

Capello, England’s head coach had a lot more to say on the subject, as he was irate with the referees from the moment the mistake was made all the way until the game had been long over. Capello’s frustration level hit an all-time high when the referee did not count his player’s game tying goal. Capello blames the lack of technology in the sport for this critical mistake stating that goal “was the most important moment of the game”. He inquires, “Where is the technology? Why are we even talking about goal or no goal?” Capello as well as Aguirre would be willing to give up the fast pace of the game in order to gain more accurate officiating.

Frank Lampard

It was not only the coaches that were severely impacted by these inaccurate calls and the lack of technology, but the players also felt the impact of these errors. These players had worked their whole lives to get to this point in their career, and to have it potentially taken away from a lack of necessary technology is truly a crime. One player not shy about his comments concerning the missed goal by referee Jorge Larrionda was Frank Lampard. Lampard, a midfielder for the English team, attacked the fact that the referees could not see plainly that the goal was a goal as he states, “it was a clear goal- 40,000 knew it and I knew it, but there were two people that didn’t. It certainly affected the game and we’re bitterly disappointed”. The bitter Lampard has a right to be angry as this shot could’ve tied the game making for a closer match and potentially a different outcome. One can understand Lampard’s frustration as even German goalie Neur admitted to knowing the shot was indeed a goal and says he acted like nothing happened in order to get the call to go his way. The outspoken Lampard left the press with the comment that he is, “in favor of goal-line technology, especially after tonight”. The consensus from the people affected is that video replay is something that should be seriously considered for future world cups to come.

Video Replay

Video replay in the game of soccer would include the usage of cameras or other instruments to assist referees in making more accurate calls.

Sepp Blatter, president of FIFA, at a press conference

Video Replay Debate

Why not include video replay? If all of these errors are pointing to the fact that the lack of technology was the reason for these errors, is Fifa not immediately adding it in? Sepp Blatter, the president of Fifa, is highly against video replay saying that it will ruin the charm of the game. Blatter claims that video replay will slow down the fast paced game and says fans fail to recognize this fact. Blatter says that Fifa has “watched our NFL make a fetish of the camera, and rightly note that a running-time game cannot be halted to allow official review”. Since the beginning of time Fifa has stressed the idea that soccer is about the live match and not T.V, and with video replay Blatter fears that commercials will take over, making the game less important.

Pros of Video Replay	Cons of Video Replay
More accurate calls	Takes over referee's job
Referees would be more confident	Slows down the game
Brings sport up to date technology-wise	Loses "charm" of the "old school game"
Ensures all rules are being followed	Takes away from the thrill of a live match based on running time

Hawk-Eye Technology

Blatter does have sufficient points but on a positive note some research has been done over time to ensure that video replay will not slow down the game much, if at all. The man responsible for taking the steps to correct these two failures and to prevent them from happening again is Tijs Tummers, the secretary of FIFpro. Tummers says that “there is not a single convincing argument against the use of goal-line technology” and that it will be there to assist referees, not replace them. Tummers says that with Dr. Paul Hawkins’ system, “Hawk-Eye Technology”, which does replay for tennis and cricket, he is confident if added into soccer, a goal line decision could be made within 0.5 seconds of the incident. Tummers believes that video replay is the best of both worlds as it will be used to give all participants the level of accuracy they desire while not taking away from the pace of the game.

Diagram of Hawk eye technology

Impact of these Errors

These two human errors have had an impact that the soccer world could have never imagined would happen. Both of these mistakes happening in a simultaneous fashion have forced Fifa to consider possibly changing the game of soccer forever in order to please the players, the coaches and the fans. With the steps being taken to research Dr. Paul Hawkins’ system, it does not seem that a large change will be made from the usage of video replay, something that would provide positive outcomes for everyone involved. As bad as these two mistakes were, one of the positive outcomes was that they have forced Sepp Blatter and the rest of the Fifa staff to face the issue that soccer is behind all other sports in the area of technology and therefore in the area of accuracy. Fifa will now have to seriously consider changing soccer in order to assure all teams, fans, and coaches that improvements will be made and crucial mistakes, like these two, will never be made again.

See Also

• Goal-line technology
• Laws of the Game (association football)
• FIFA World Cup
• Referee (association football)
• Hawk-Eye
• Instant Replay

References

Further Reading

• Explanation of "Hawk-Eye Technology"
• Sepp Blatter's Personal Opinion over Video Replay
• Pictures and Descriptions of England's Unrewarded Goal
• Full Explanation of Critical Errors

External Links

• Errors Pave Way for Mexico's Earlier than Expected World Cup Exit
• World Cup Keeps Replaying Mistakes, so why not go to Video Replay?
• Fifa President Apologizes for Errors
• Hawk-Eye Inventor Frustrated that Fifa and Uefa not Pursuing Goal-Line Technology
• Mexico coach Javier Aguirre resigns after World Cup exit