The quarterfinals of the Professional League Cup confirmed that the incorporation of high-end technology in Argentine soccer is essential. The lines can no longer be drawn by hand to determine whether a goal should be awarded or disallowed for offside. It is also not possible that, as happened in the Superclásico in Córdoba, the VAR referees do not have incontrovertible evidence that the ball entered the goal or not.
The system currently in use and accepted under pressure by leaders is low cost. But it is also technologically obsolete and susceptible to being manipulated by its operators. That is, it does not dispel doubts or increase the certainty of their decisions. And it is not that, but quite the opposite, what is needed to scare away suspicions and for games to be effectively won and lost on the field.
If the ball had a chip that made the referees’ stopwatch vibrate every time the ball crossed the goal line, the soccer country would not be arguing right now whether or not Sergio Romero took the ball from inside. The arbitration decision would have been immediate and indubitable and no one could consider themselves benefited or harmed. And if the automatic offside system were applied, valuable minutes of play would not be lost by throwing a blue line and a red line and making interpretations on the fly: you would instantly know if a player is enabled or not and a goal counts or not.
This is what happened in the semi-final of the English FA Cup between Manchester United and Coventry: at the end of extra time, Coventry scored a goal that was disallowed due to a tiny offside position. The entire process took less than a minute and no one dared to discuss it. Even though with that goal, Coventry eliminated United and went to the final (United ended up going through shots from the penalty spot). The technology has a zero margin of error. And that is what Argentine football should aim for. The sooner the better.
The president of AFA, Claudio Tapia, prides himself on leading “the best league in the world.” For this to be the case, he should set aside some of the millions of dollars that the Argentine National Team provides to the entity and go in search of much better instruments, a matter of aligning the First Division championship with the first-rate European tournaments. But Tapia does not seem to have a free hand to advance on this issue: the leaders of the highest category are firmly opposed to investing in technology. They prefer to leave everything as it is even though they later come out to complain when the VAR rules against them. They will know why.
With everything at stake in the complex and passionate Argentine football, time should not continue to be wasted with cheap, obsolete and objectionable technology. And the pace would have to be quickened to surround the referees’ decisions with a credibility that many demand but few seek. There is money. What is missing is the political decision. The ball is in the leaders’ side. For now, several choose to pass it by.
2024-04-23 03:01:00
#Argentine #football #technology #Opinion
