Football: A pencil with no erasers?

Disgusting, isn’t it? As a school- going guy, Sunday nights are one involving going to bed early, unless it’s Chelsea night, where I need to go in for hours of cajoling and convincing to stay up late and watch my team play. And when I get what I did tonight, I feel like Diwali just got cancelled.

Yes, it indeed was disgusting. No, not the loss, that happens every now and then, like against Shakhtar, but this one stung infinitely more. Not because it was against our rival who is very close on our heels in the title race. There is no need for the dramatic music. The reason why I’m venting my spleen off, is kind of obvious, because of a few terrible, pardon me, horrible calls by the referee and the linesmen.

I’m sure my fellow writers would have written several directory lengths of match reviews, analysis, reports and swear words at the referee in a more refined way. I could, perhaps, do the same, but I’ll save that one for later. The reason why I’m up at twelve in the night hammering away at the keyboard, instead of being fast asleep is because football has become a pencil with no eraser. Well, no, I’m slightly incorrect with the last sentence, it hasn’t become a pencil with no eraser, it has always been a pencil with no eraser. But, with the importance of each match being played these days, where people are investing their entire life’s savings and spending their precious moments in something that could be in almost no feasible way productive, can we continue being at the mercy of decisions poor enough to reduce one to tears? Yes, absolutely horrible decisions they were – the Torres red card, the Hernandez offside goal. I feel really sorry for Manchester United fans on this occasion. Yes, I might sound like the lean beggar who feels sorry for the paunchy millionaire, for Manchester United did come out with the 3 points, but isn’t that exactly what the title, and in fact, the entire article is about? What possible comeback could a Manchester United fan have to my allegations? If you have something better to say than instances from the past, swearing, and denial, feel free to comment.

Why has football become a case of ‘done and dusted with once, done forever’? Everyone saw the offside goal, right? Why is it, that with all its money and technology involved, that football is unable to have reviews? This is, perhaps, the time when we took a lesson from cricket and its third umpire, a person with the sole purpose of reviewing, and reporting to the referee. Commentators pass judgements on challenges and offsides, don’t they? Why will it be so very difficult for a third umpire sitting in a cozy room with multi angle viewing on a 52″ inch TV, to decide whether a goal is onside or offside? Of course, whenever technology is brought into the fray, Michael Platini just supplies more umpires to man the lines, and the FA goes into denial.

In a simple and very easy system, a coach can ask the 4th official for a review, and since most instances requiring reviews will have a stoppage, it won’t take too long. A quick glance at the TV, reporting of the situation, and VOILA! Instant justice! Any hitches in the ‘time taking’ excuse can be dealt with by adding a few extra minutes in injury time. After all, wouldn’t watching a football match for two extra minutes be infinitely more satisfying than losing, or even winning a match, that you know you shouldn’t have? It is indeed, high time that football referees, who are after all, human beings, perfectly capable and more adept at making mistakes, started taking help from reviews to decide the outcome of the game in a better and fairer way.

P. S. If you are a Manchester United fan who accidentally read the article before swearing, no instances from the past are to be mentioned as defence to this argument, which isn’t on Manchester, rather on the referees and the system.