FIFA president, Joseph Blatter, has insisted that technology will not be used in the foreseeable future to settle disputed referee decisions in the game of football.
The Switzerland-born administrator, who is in South Africa for the just-ended Confederations Cup, said recent technological inventions presented to the organization had not satisfied the organization that technology should be embraced.
“Football is not tennis,” said Blatter in reference to tennis where video evidence is used to settle disputed decisions.
“There is a big difference between the two sports. In tennis, there is only one dimension, which is the line. Football has three dimensions. It has been tested in England that even with seven cameras, it still difficult to assess if the ball has crossed the line. Therefore, let us let football be football where human errors are part of the human sport,” the outspoken Blatter said in Johannesburg.
His comments follow calls for the introduction of computer technology in the sport in order to settle disputed decisions.
Such technology is in place in such sports as tennis and cricket.
Mthulisi Sibanda
