The Rational Ref | English Premier League's video technology will help referees
New system to be showcased in England will help referees and bring fair play to football
The world's most popular league kicks off this weekend across England and Wales, and will be beamed to 1.5 billion fans around the globe - a third of the total estimated worldwide population aged between 16 and 69. These fans will be glued to their screens for the fantastically packaged digital video product called the English Premier League.
In the modern era, continued advances in video technology have allowed fans to scrutinise and re-examine every single player incident, referee decision and game-changing event from the comfort of their own armchairs. It seems almost nothing escapes capture and analysis. Even off-the-ball incidents, which match officials cannot be expected to always see, are captured and critiqued by the all-seeing cameras. Some argue that this makes refereeing even harder than in the past because match officials will never to be able to observe as much, or in as much detail, as today's sophisticated, high-speed cameras that are dotted around every professional club's stadium. This disconnect between what the human eye sees at ground level and what the camera lens observes from above the pitch is the problem.
But Rational Ref thinks otherwise. Given the correct implementation, support structure and respect to match officials, the use of cameras can actually help with refereeing matters. In fact, video technology can and should be used to help bring justice and a sense of fair play to the game, and hence protect its image.
This season, two significant changes along these lines promise to help professional referees in the EPL perform better, make consistent decisions, and ultimately ensure effective management and control of players throughout the long, gruelling and challenging season.
These two changes are the introduction of goal-line technology - now officially called the goal decision system (GDS) - and a new review panel that includes three former referees who will look at video evidence to make retrospective sanctions if needed.
The FA, with the blessing of Fifa, but notably not Uefa, decided to implement the GDS in all 380 EPL games this season. It will also be used at FA Cup games where the stadiums have the equipment, as well as for England matches at Wembley. So far, only clubs in the Premier League are required to have the GDS, which has set-up costs of £250,000 (HK$3 million) plus unspecified operating expenses.
The Hawk-Eye GDS comprises 14 cameras that operate at 320 frames per second. This means even if a player blocks the view of the ball at a crucial time and space, mathematical computations can still be made to pinpoint the ball's position relative to the goal line.