Technology - To use or not to use

The buzzword in most of the backpages around the world is Technology. To be very frank, this edition of the world cup has not exactly been the best ambassador of the "Make some room in the game for the referees' error 'cos its gonna even out over the course of the game" theory.

Many newspapers have put the FIFA officials and the rules to the sword and, to be fair, FIFA deserves whats coming its way. Maybe this was kind of overdue. Lets put things into perspective vis-a-vis other sports.

- Many of us remember the numerous close call run out decisions that had changed the face of God-knows-how-many test matches for over a century. Today, its almost impossible to imagine a game without the third umpire getting involved for atleast one close decision.

- Hawk Eye has made a remarkable impact on tennis. Players now have the option of appealing against the officials' calls. There is a limit on the number of failed appeals to discourage the players from disrupting the flow of the game by continuous appeals. It is inevitable that cricket will also catch on to hawk-eye (it was experimented a few years ago in case of questionable calls such as LBWs).

- We have the hot spot and snick-o-meter to decide on faint edges for which umpires face a difficulty in deciding on whether there was an edge and, if it was off the bat / glove of the batsman. It is only a matter of time before these get accepted. We are basically removing the officials' error aspect and allowing the result of the game to be dictated by the players' performances (or the lack of it as the case maybe).

So, the question that arises is: What is FIFA risking by not embracing technology? The answer maybe more difficult than one assumes it to be. FIFA's goal has been and will probably continue to be, largely focussed on making the game popular all over the world. If this is true, then the decision to not go for technology and minimizing the officials' error aspect from influencing the game is all the more confusing since it is a counter-argument. In US, the credibility of the game has no doubt suffered this summer since the US team was involved in a couple of crucial games which had missed calls from referees. US has historically been a big challenge for FIFA to break into because of the popularity of other established sports such as American football, baseball, basketball and ice hockey. However, with the population of US being increasingly diverse, this summer would have been not the worst time to help kick in a revolution of soccer. The US team too seemingly had the luck of the draw. If only FIFA had thought about keeping a level playing field.

What will be worrying for many countries is this: Every nation that is kicked out of the tournament, might focus more on the few missed calls which may (or may not) have been, in earnest, the real reason for the team's exit from the tournament. The fans let the players off their hook. This cannot be a roadblock for improved team performances. The credibility of the game is at stake here. Hopefully, the powers that be are listening..