Michel Platini’s way out of line because football needs goal technology

11 April 2012

As cultured as Michel Platini was in his playing days, the Frenchman's steadfast refusal to embrace the evolutionary advances in football paint him as little more than a Luddite.

The UEFA president's rejection of goal-line technology is infuriating and the reasons behind erecting such barriers to progress seem flawed.

Does Platini really think goal-line technology is not inevitable? With High Definition television presently finding itself superseded by the embryonic availability of 3D in our own homes, the path forward is clear.

It just should not follow that those officiating the game have inferior means to make a decision than the millions watching at home who judge it.

Platini argues that such imbalance promotes the debate over the decisions that he seems to believe is fundamental to the game's popularity.

He is wrong. The essence of football is in its competition, not its controversy. UEFA have done their level best to systematically dilute their own Champions League and Europa Leagues to the extent that the early rounds contain a plethora of meaningless matches contested by weakened sides in front of mediocre crowds.

Platini would be better suited focusing on restoring the Champions League to a more pure form than chasing extra revenue to swell UEFA's coffers still further.

The debate over the widespread introduction of technology is for another day — all we are referring to here is the use of a system to quickly determine whether a shot has crossed the line.

Platini, like his FIFA counterpart Sepp Blatter, is opposed to the idea (although Blatter's resistance was weakened by the gaffe which cost England THAT goal against Germany at the World Cup) and argues the benefit of more than one referee on the pitch.

"One referee is not enough, not in the modern era where you have 20 cameras," he said. "It is why we have added two assistants for Champions League games this season.

"It is a logical step with so many cameras that can pick up incidents: the more eyes there are to assist the referee, the better the chance of spotting those incidents. Goal-line technology would turn the game into PlayStation football."

If technology means PlayStation football then more officials is a case of the blind leading the blind. Platini believes greater respect for referees is also a "solution" but how can players and supporters display such deference if officials do not have access to all the information?

Goals change games in the starkest manner — a red card or a dodgy free-kick do not bear comparison.

Their impact is debateable and varies from game to game. This is where Platini's beloved controversy can remain, not in whether achieving the fundamental aspect of the game — scoring a goal — has been achieved.

There is something sacrosanct about the confines of a football pitch — what is played out there should be solely determined there without any outside influence. It is a romantic notion but one that football's governing bodies sacrificed when they accepted the television money that has so inflated the game's finances.

Television used football to progress and now the reverse must happen. The International Football Association Board will accept prototype submissions by the end of November before undergoing testing which will be discussed at their next meeting on 4-6 March.

It can only be hoped that FIFA's rulemaking division will then discuss implementation of the best method, presumably something akin to the Hawk-Eye system used so effectively — and quickly — in tennis.

That is, of course, if Blatter and Platini do not use their influence to further obstruct the winds of change.

An undeniably supreme talent in his playing days, Platini's latter-day stint as UEFA president since 2007 is, in many quarters, sullying the reputation of a footballing great — a European Championship and European Footballer of the Year winner in 1984, European Cup hero in 1985 with Juventus, three-time Ballon d'Or winner and arguably the greatest playmaker ever to grace the game.

In the 2000 movie High Fidelity, Jack Black's character asks: "Is it unfair to criticise a formerly great artist for his latter-day sins?"
Well, in Michel Platini's case, no.

Shocking late tackle proves game is nearly up for Neville at the top

Gary Neville remains one of the finest right-backs the Premier League has seen in the past 15 years but after passing a significant landmark last weekend, it is difficult not to feel his days are numbered.

The 35-year-old made his 600th appearance for Manchester United in Sunday's victory over Stoke and referee Andre Marriner must have forgotten a card to mark the anniversary because he decided not to send off Neville despite his blatant indiscretion.

Matthew Etherington is an industrious and sometimes under‑rated winger but exactly the type of player Neville would have seen off with ease in his heyday.

However, Neville's reckless scythe at Etherington when already on a yellow card is symptomatic of a once great player in decline.

He remains an important figure in the dressing room and a role model around Old Trafford for the club's younger players to look up to. Neville holds the record for England caps won by a right-back (it could be argued they have failed to replace him since his last appearance in February 2007) and has eight Premier League and two Champions League winners' medals among his collection.

Neville has been a phenomenally consistent performer and his unswerving loyalty was rewarded by Sir Alex Ferguson with a one‑year deal last summer.

Unlike Paul Scholes and Ryan Giggs, who continue to look evergreen in their mid-30s, it may not be advisable to do the same again next year — not every referee will be as lenient.

Sneijder's class but back Spain to reign

Wesley Sneijder has enjoyed a fantastic year with Inter Milan and justifies his position at the forefront of the market for this year's FIFA Ballon d'Or but the value appears to lie elsewhere.

Far be it from me to dish out gambling advice — as my accountant would no doubt tell you — but Ladbrokes has opened a market on the winner, to be announced in January, with the Dutchman installed as 5-2 favourite.

Sneijder is a superb player whose vision and creativity were unleashed by Jose Mourinho to full effect as Inter won the Treble last season but history shows the impact a World Cup has on the international captains and coaches who vote for the award (along with various media selected by France Football).

Five out of the last seven winners in a World Cup year have been part of the side that have won the tournament, with Hristo Stoichkov, of Bulgaria, (1994) and Igor Belanov, of the former Soviet Union, (1986) as the exceptions.

Sneijder would be a worthy winner but at 5-2 is not worth betting the farm on given Spain's dominance at the World Cup. David Villa (6-1) looks great value but perhaps Andres Iniesta (11-4 and scorer of the winner in the final) is the selection.

Follow me on www.twitter.com/JamesOlley

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