Craig Urquhart, a former FIFA media officer and current editor of Project 2010, is relieved that the governing body has decided to not introduce goal-line technology during the African World Cup. He refers to the debates that followed after England won its Cup on a goal which may or may not have crossed the line:
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"And that's what makes football - unlike other codes such as cricket, rugby, tennis or American football - so beautiful. The human element, and human frailties, are part and parcel of the extraordinary theatre that is played out during the contest."
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Urquhart also reveals his satisfaction with the decision to introduce additional match-officials to focus on fouls in the penalty area:
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"Interestingly, the IFAB has approved a proposal from Fifa to conduct an experiment involving two additional assistant referees, who will mainly focus on fouls and misconduct in the penalty area...Again, that should be welcomed. Perhaps the 2010 World Cup will be remembered for ending the kind of cheating in the penalty area that so often takes the fairness out of football."
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Urquhart may be trying to support his earlier point about the Grosso dive that allowed Italy to defeat Australia but we are more interested in the more frequent kinds of physical cheating that occur in the penalty area (and elsewhere): body-checking, holding, pushing, elbowing, obstruction, tripping, stamping, etc. These are the real problems of the beautiful game. These are the behaviours that limit individual talent and kill the beautiful flow of football. Like Mr. Urquhart, we could also focus on another perpetrator of cheating from the Italian team to support our point: Marco Materazzi. If his shirt-pulling and verbal abuse had been spotted by an additional official, the beautiful Zidane would not have been forced to take justice into his own hands.
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Source > 13.03.2008
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