Thursday, November 19, 2009

Replay in Sports?

After watching the replays ad nauseum of Thierry Henry's handball assist that set up the winning goal to put France in the 2010 World Cup field. I wonder if instant replay should be used more in sports where it is either not widely used (like baseball) or not used at all such as soccer. As this article states, FIFA and UEFA, the governing bodies of soccer (futbol, as they call it) for the World and Europe, respectively. Clearly, Henry's goal should not have been allowed, and as a result, Ireland was robbed of a World Cup Berth. It will be interesting to see what the fallout is, and if FIFA or UEFA institute the use of replay in the future, especially the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

I'm torn. The use of video compromises the human element of referees/umpires. Referees can't be expected to make perfect calls at every controversial play. Obviously, soccer games are often decided by one goal, which makes overruling a goal more significant than overruling a home run. One solution, as the article points out, would be to add more refs behind the goals. Likewise, in baseball, more refs could be hired for crucial games. Of course FIFA, UEFA, MLB would have to pay for more sporting officials, a price that may be worth a debate over their officials' integrity.

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