THE USE OF TECHNOLOGY IN FOOTBALL.

The fall out from Chelsea v. Barcelona on Wednesday night continues unabated today as PFA chief executive Gordon Taylor has called for the use of technology in football to assist referees. Speaking to the BBC, he said: “We are putting referee’s in too vulnerable a situation with the conspiracy theories that abound that UEFA would not want an all English final, it was an accident waiting to happen…. Until we bring in technology we are almost giving ourselves ignition points where the game could flare up for players and supporters.”

Tom Ovrebo is the scapegoat of the moment but it boggles the mind how it could have come to Wednesday night for this debate to be once again pushed to the fore. Chelsea are not the only victims of dodgy penalty decisions, Barca were unlucky in the first leg at the Nou Camp and last year Arsenal were denied a clear penalty at the Emirates against Liverpool when Alexander Hleb was brought down, just a couple of examples.

The debate over technology should not just focus on mistakes made on Wednesday night, as Taylor points out the referee is put in such an exposed position by the powers that be in the game. Ovrebo is now under police protection in Norway amid death threats and a media storm. He is not the first, as Swede Anders Frisk retired from the game after abuse suffered following a Chelsea/Barcelona Champions League tie in 2005.

SUMMARY

The fail on Chelsea v. Barcelona on Wednesday continues today as PFA chief executive Gordon Taylor has called for the use of technology to assist referees. He said to the BBC: “We are putting referee’s in too vulnerable a situation with the theories that abound that UEFA would not want an all English final, it was an expected accident…. Until we bring in technology we are almost giving ourselves ignition points where the game could start for players and supporters.”

The scapegoat of the moment Tom Ovrebo, boggles the mind how it could have come to Wednesday for this debate to be pushed to the fore again. Chelsea are not the only victims of dodgy penalty decisions, Barca were unlucky in the first leg at the Nou Camp and last year Arsenal were denied a penalty against Liverpool when Alexander Hleb was brought down.

The debate should not just focus on mistakes made on Wednesday, as Taylor said the referee is put in an exposed position by the powers of the game. Ovrebo is now under police protection in Norway amid death threats. Swede Anders Frisk was retired from the game after abuse suffered following a Chelsea/Barcelona Champions League tie in 2005 too.