For FIFA: It’s Human Goalies Only
When it comes to sports, there’s a certain appeal about it, right? Athletes, sports employees and fans alike enjoy it for different reasons. It could be the impressive skill performed on the field, the drama of a grudge match between bitter rivals, the thrill of seeing your favorite team or athlete score a victory or simply the joy of playing the game yourself. All of these things have one common element: the aspect of human involvement and experience. So, here’s a question to consider, sports fans. How much should technology be involved in sports and is it right to use it to start replacing certain aspects of the human element?
FIFA has already decided what their view is on this issue. They don’t want technology to replace human goalies for the game of soccer. Sepp Blatter, the president of FIFA recently stated that automated devices will not be used to monitor activity and record score points for the goal line for the World Cup this year. His argument is that the human element must be protected for all levels of soccer, including six-grade leagues. However, Blatter’s stance on this issue does raise the question of how can score disputes and other complicated game-affecting circumstances be properly sorted out if technology’s use is limited or excluded altogether. See exactly what he had to say after the jump.
For his critics, Mr. Blatter had this to say via his podcast:
No matter which technology is applied, at the end of the day a decision will have to be taken by a human being. This being the case, why remove the responsibility from the referee to give it to someone else? It is often the case that, even after a slow-motion replay, ten different experts will have ten different opinions on what the decision should have been.
Clearly, the FIFA President is sticking to his guns on this one and I personally agree with him. There is a danger is putting too much responsibility in the hands of technology for sports. The human element is arguably why people love sports and that should be preserved as long as sports exist.
Tags: FIFA, Human element, Sepp Blatter, Soccer, Technology
