Because, what is supposed to happen after a goal is scored? Fireworks, a nice dance number, and then to midfield to kick off.

Part of the benefit of scoring is that you get to have your defense set when they kick off. Just because the first call got it wrong, doesn't mean they should have to put up with part of that screwup.

he's been FIFA'd

That's true but they should be aware that the ref did not call it a goal and play defense.

You would think that calling a goal would be the one call that should be impossible to screw up, though. I mean, the officials were about the only ones in the stadium that didn't see it go in.

As for video replay, FIFA will NEVER put it into effect, while the same people head it. The reason is simple: FIFA has no incentive to do it. Before you start saying, "Lol, everyone is talking about the terrible officiating, etc," think about most peoples actions, though. How many decided to turn off their TV's and decided to not support the World Cup until officiating comes up to par and/or replay is put into effect? Probably very few. FIFA knows that it's the World Cup, people are going to watch, regardless. Until their profit line starts going down, they're never going to resort to adding something that is controversial that could cause them to lose fans and upset players.

I think they do lose some potential new fans. The hardcore fans aren't going to turn off the TV and swear off the sport but people who otherwise might catch some games here and there (or big events and such) could very well do just that. There is a huge incentive here. Zero hardcore fans would stop watching by tweaking a few rules or allowing for reviews. They would just complain. None of them would swear the sport off.

this. think Seinfeld .gif

This is basically exactly what I came into the thread to say. QFT.

Sure, FIFA may be losing a very small number of fans who are marginal supporters but are turned off by the inequity created by lack of replay, but this is a very tiny % of their viewer base and is nearly inconsequential. FIFA is not seriously threatened by the problems which a lack of replay creates, it is mostly an inconvenience they have to deal with every so often when a call gets screwed up. If their product was actually in danger or they were faced with the prospect of losing fans, they would seriously address the issue and start implementing changes. There is a reason FIFA has done exactly NOTHING to reform.

Although I imagine they will have to make some changes for Brazil, since at this point there are now a handful of countries who have been truly ****ed over.

At this point I'm honestly hoping some team puts in a 90' + 2' tying goal that gets called back on a bogus offside call or just not seen going over the line (ideally combined with a missed offside call the other way going for a goal too). Even better if it gets deflected in by a wayward vuvuzela.

I hope every game from here out is ruined by a call that could be fixed by replay. Seriously. All of them.

How many of these fans are going to buy a jersey, go to a soccer game, or do anything that does more than affect their TV ratings by .0000000001%? Soccer is the NFL, NBA, and MLB wrapped into one for most countries, think about how much those leagues screw over the fans and how often it actually affects their bottom line. Hell, we even shut down our leagues every decade or so.

You really think 99.99999999999% of soccer fans in the world are the hardcore variety? gtfo

Vix... what else do they have?

I do know someone who doesn't bother to watch the games because of how much the frequent referring blunders ruin the game. (He likes to see a fair contest between two skilled players/teams, regardless of sport).

This is getting ridiculous. Rugby has had a TMO (television match official) for at least 10 years and there is no doubt that it has improved quality of the decisions. Stopping the clock for 2 minutes is obviously worthwhile if it means getting the correct call.

FIFA should at the very least trial it in the lower leagues

Agree with all of this. These mistakes are getting ridiculous. Takes some of the joy out even for the winning teams never mind for the losers.

Blattersaurus needs to GTFO ASAP

too bad this is 2+2, the world is full of stupid people and they ruin stuff more important than football.

I dont' see what the harm would be of trying replay on a limited trial basis for a few years. If it turns out to cause major problems then scrap it. But as everyone pretty much knows deep down, it would work tremendously well if used in specific circumstances with specific rules.

X-post

At least the people who are against replay in this thread are coming up with real arguments as to why. While I don't agree with them, they're at least grounded in reality.

Everytime I hear someone spout off with that "We can't eliminatethe human element, it's what makes the sport great." I want to go curb stomping them.

People who use this as an argument against replay should be universally ridiculed. We're very familiar with it in the US as baseball schmucks regeritate it frequently.

It's a text book example of a made up, non-sensical, hocus pocus, appeal to emotion "reason" You might as well say you're against it because God doesn't want it in the game or because your favorite color is blue.

You'll find the discussion here on any subject about a million times more intelligent that with average people on the street about soccer or anything really.

Wow. My post is clearly referring to individual fans and how many are going to do anything other than perhaps tune into a game. How much does a casual fan really effect FIFA's bottom line? An individual turning on a TV is obviously .00000000something1 of their ratings (w/ how ratings work this actually isn't true but you get the gist). You are right I did choose a random number of 0s and whatever I chose is probably incorrect.

Point is one hardcore fan who purchases a jersey and goes to a few games is worth 100+ casual fans who do nothing more than minimally effect ratings and probably only every few years. And the number of casual fans who are going to stop watching because of the refs is insignificant, especially outside the US. Thanks for ignoring the main point of my post though. You agree that FIFA couldn't give a **** about you and anyone like you, right? Turn off your TV, that'll show them!!!! Not saying that its a good thing, but that is the way it is, and FIFA literally has 0 incentive to change.

A ton? Casual fan is more important than hardcore in every sport.

the world cup is the one of the very, very few tv events which people will basically never not watch. boycotting a league like the EPL might work, but the world cup is pretty much immune from that.

I think you are mixing terminology between casual and hardcore based on when it suits your argument because you are making zero sense.

I don't know, I was excited to watch soccer besides the World Cup. But the bad officiating is throwing me off. I think I will stop buying soccer jerseys too. I will try to convince people that want replay to not buy team jerseys anymore.

Grunching

1. Goal-line issue
Solution:
Chip inside the ball with GPS tracking? I'm a bit naive as to how accurate these devices are at the moment, +- 1 cm is probably sufficient
Extra official watching the GPS with walkie-talkie hooked up to referee. Referee does not stop play unless contacted by the extra official

2. Offside issue
Solution:
All players have to be GPS monitored
Again, don't know how quick the refresh rate is on GPS monitoring, but that would have to be say every 0.1 seconds to be useful.

No, that's not what I'm suggesting, what I'm trying to avoid is people saying how replays will work without going into any detail, and actually get some debate going instead of "the offside rule is ******ed" or "OMG this is unwatchable".

Agan - so when you're reviewing and multiple fouls are occurring at the same time, which way does the decision go?

This is fine and I understand where you are coming from - but we'll still come back to the fits of rage/stupidity from people when the situation I describe occurs (corner or whatever is wrongly awarded and the team that got the corner goes on to score).