The Rational Ref | Credibility of match officials put at risk
Uefa president Michel Platini is wrong to shun technology in his blind pursuit of promoting additional assistant referees
The politicking of Uefa president Michel Platini, with his persecution of technology and promotion of additional assistant referees, has the side effect of biasing match officials.
Take the case of Pierluigi Collina. His achievements on the pitch are second to none, and he has rightly earned the respect of almost everyone for his refereeing accomplishments. Chief among his officiating characteristics were his credibility, control and clout.
Collina is now chief refereeing officer at Uefa, but because he is paid by the European soccer organisation, he has to toe Platini's party line.
Recently Platini reiterated this line, which is to dismiss goal-line technology (GLT) in favour of his own idea of the clumsily termed and awkwardly positioned AARs (additional assistant referees). These officials stand along the goal line trying to look useful.
Platini claims Frank Lampard's goal-that-never-was during the 2010 World Cup is not worth €54 million (HK$537 million), which he says is the price of installing goal-line technology to cover Champions League matches. He maintains that a "once-in-a-blue-moon" goal happens only once in 40 years and therefore is not worth solving with expensive GLT.
Putting financial concerns in context, at the end of this season's Champions League, Uefa will bank €335 million from an estimated gross commercial revenue of €1.34 billion.
Platini is sticking with using AARs because it is his brainchild.