Sports and Technology the USA - Research Paper Example

 Abstract Sport and technology is two unrelated fields. Football is an art or a performance while technology is practical science. Despite the differences between sports and technology, application of technology in sports is inevitable due to the continued dependency on technology. However, most football stakeholders are likely to oppose application of technology in soccer. Football fans are more concerned with the entertainment aspect of football than accuracy of scores. On the other hand, football officials are 70% likely to vote in favor of application of technology in football. The Goal-line technology or use of smartball is likely to be the most preferable technology. If applied, Goal-line technology is likely to reduce miscellaneous errors by more than 70%. Introduction Application of technology in sport has remained a controversial issue. Despite the modern technological development and dependency on technology, people believe that technology should not be incorporated in sports. Football remains as the most affected sport since different parties have not been able to reach a compromise on the significance of applying technology in football matches (Long & Czarnecki, 2009). The focus of technology and application of technology is its significance in facilitating decision making by the referees. This paper will therefore focus on application of technology in football. Background The issue of Goal-line technology attracted global attention in 2005 in a match between Tottenham Hotspur FC and Manchester united FC. During this match, United’s goalkeeper Roy Carroll caught and dropped the ball about one yard behind the Goal-line before clearing it off. The referee did not award a goal to Tottenham despite the ball having crossed the Goal-line with a considerable margin (Johnstone, 2005). Following the problem, FIFA officials decided to advocate for a technology that would enhance the referee’s decisions making. Another similar incident occurred in 2011 where Chelsea FC won 2:1 against Tottenham FC. In this mach, the referee awarded a goal to Chelsea striker Frank Lampard although the ball had not crossed the goal line (ESPN, 2012). The global football governing body (FIFA), together with IFAB has been active in analyzing application of technology in football without compromising element of entertainment in football. IFAB is the main body that design football rules and therefore the main decision maker on the issue. In addition, FIFA as the world football governing body has four votes while other leading football associations have one vote each (Miller, 2011). These include football association of Wales, England, Scottish and Irish football associations. Following its invention Empa tested the Goal-line technology successfully in September 2011 and recommended it to FIFA and other football associations. The test aimed at evaluating referee’s response and ability of the technology to yield appealing results. Technology in American Football Football has become a major pastime activity in the US. American football has managed to tap the benefits of technology. Due to the complexity of the American football, match officials have found technology as an effective tool in making decisions concerning scores and mistakes committed by players. The main problem that necessitated use of technology in American football was how to measure ten yards required determining the first down. Despite the progress of application of technology, people consider American football not as entertaining as other football. This has also been a major anticipation that critics use against application of technology in football. The main debate about application of technology in football is based on the impacts of technology on the entertainment element of football. It is believed that application of technology would eliminate the human element, which is the basis of football entertainment (Davis, 2010). On the other hand, football officials believe that technology would greatly reduce instances of misjudgment and wrongful decision making by the referees. In a football match, a winner is determined based on goal differences. This is independent of a team’s ball procession and quality of their game. This indicates that the decision to award or deny a goal is the most critical decision that a referee and other match officials make during a football match. However, referees often make wrong decision by awarding or denying goals due to human limitations. This has promoted the football governing body FIFA to consider adopting Goal-line and Hawk-Eye technology as the basic technology in a football match. Hawk-eye Technology The hawk-eye technology has proved beneficial in other sports such as cricket and tennis. This technology uses computer software and cameras to track the trajectory of the ball. Its success in tennis and cricket has made football rule makers to consider adopting the technology in football. The UK premier league officials have agreed to use the technology following FIFA's approvals. The hawk-eye company that is based in London is responsible for the technology and it is expecting positive response from all football stakeholders. When fully implemented, the technology is expected to improve referee’s accuracy and decision-making concerning awarding of goals (Long, and Czarnecki, 2009). The hack-eye camera takes at least 600 frames per second on the ball and the goal line. The inbuilt computer software establishes whether the ball has crossed the goal line, after analyzing the frames. In a situation where a ball crosses the Goal-line resulting into a goal, the referee receives a notification through a wrist device. Goal-line Technology Other than the hack-eye technology, FIFA is also considering the possibility of utilizing the Goal-line technology to facilitate referee’s decision-making process. Adoption of Goal-line technology has been necessitated by the tendency of referees to make wrongful decisions. This is usually demonstrated through match replays. According to the International Football Association Board (IFAB), a sufficient Goal-line technology should only apply Goal-line decisions, should have a high degree of accuracy, should send instant signals to the referee and the signal should only be accessible to the match officials. These requirements have been fulfilled by the “smartball” which consists of a computer chip that is leaded into a football. This technology was jointly developed by the German firm Cairos Technologies and, the Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Circuits. The technology applies signal receivers, which are located at critical points within a football field. These sensors track the position of the precise ball at any given instance. When the ball crosses the goal line, the referee receives a notification through a headset device. Advantages of applying technology Football critics have used mistakes that have occurred in major matches to launch their argument concerning the need for application of technology in football. It is believed that technological development should focus on all aspect of human development. Thus, the increasing dependency on technology should be evident in sports. This argument considers technology as a solution to modern day problems. In the past football matches, referees have often been accused of unfair ruling by the awarding or denying of goals. Technology is the only solution that can be applied to solve such problems. Use of technology will eliminate occurrences that results from inaccuracy of the referees especially those concerned with awarding of goals. This debate was revived following the 2010 German vs. Spain match whereby Frank Lampard was denied a goal due to a referee’s mistakes. Supporters of technology believe that such mistakes can be avoided through Goal-line technology. Confrontation between supporters of the different teams has also been a common phenomenon in past football matches. The latest incident took place in Port Said, where 72 people lost their lives. Although such football violence can result from alternative reasons, wrong decisions by the referees have been considered as the main cause of football related violence. It is therefore believed that enhancing the referee’s ability will greatly reduce such ugly scenes. This would enable football to achieve the objective of bringing unity among people. Disadvantage of technology Despite the evident benefits of applying technology in football, most people believe that technology would eliminate the human aspect in football. In addition, critics of technology argue that technology would make football boring. This is because the entertainment aspect of football results from the unpredictability of a football match (Davis, 2010). In addition, accuracy of a football matches in relation to goals and offside needs not to have perfect accuracy. This is because football illustrates human ability to make decisions, which is way below perfection. Introducing technology will be equivalent to the elimination of human beings from a football match. Opponents of technology also believe that referees honesty and accuracy is sufficient to preside over a match. Although technology is considered as an appropriate solution to the modern day problems, not all problems can be solved through technology. For instance referees not only require making decision concerning goals and goal lines, but also handballs, fouls and other misconducts. Such mistakes require human intelligence and do not have a technology substitute. This indicates that technology is not a sufficient solution to the problems involving football decision making. As the main stakeholders of a football match, the fans are more concerned with the flow of the game. It is believed that constant replays would interfere with the flow of the game and affect the outcome. This argument rules out the hawk-eye technology, which relies on replays. According to Beloff, it is expensive to implement technology in football (2010). This argument considers the time and financial aspect of a football match. Most football officials also consider that technology would make referees to make varied decision. This is because referees would not have uniform interpretation of signals resulting from technology devices. UEFA president has opposed the proposed application of technology and instead advocated for additional match official. Introduction of the “fifth official” or referee assistant was tried out during England vs. Ukraine during their 2012 Euro match (Matthew & Hayden, 2009). It was observed that having extra officials in a match does not eliminate certain common mistakes. For instance, the extra referee failed to awards a goal to Ukraine from a deflected shot from Marko Devic. Conclusion Application of technology in sports has remained as a controversial issue to both the fans and sport officials. Following misguided judgment by referees in previous football matches, the football governing bodies have decided to introduce technology in football to assist referee’s decision-making. Goal-line technology and hawk-eye technology are the two potential technologies that are likely to be applied. Despite the benefits that are likely to be realized from this technology, most football fans believe that application of technology will compromise the entertainment aspect of football. However, IFAB has authorized application of Goal-line technology in the 2014 world cup. References Beloff, D. (2010). “Sport technology enables improved decision”. International football journal. 1. 13-17. Print. Davis, N. (2010) Society and Culture in Early Modern France. Stanford, California: Stanford University Press. ESPN. Soccer. (2012). No goal-line aids until 2013. London: ESPN. Retrieved from http://espn.go.com/sports/soccer/news/_/id/7061644/soccer-not-set-install-goal-line-aids-2013 Johnstone, C. (2005). “Sportstec shows the world how to play the game.” The PortsScape 2.116-17. Print. Long, H & Czarnecki, J. (2009). Football for Dummies. New Jersey: John Wiley & sons. Matthew, M & Hayden, O. (2009) “Sports Law, Implications for the Development of International, Comparative, and National Law and Global Dispute”. Resolution Sport & Law Journal. 19: 23-34. Miller, H. (2011). Neil Warnock furious as 'phantom goal' costs Crystal Palace. 2011. Guardian. Retrieved from http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2009/aug/15/crystal-palace-neil-warnock-freddie-sears Read More