Former professional referee Howard Webb has recently stated that he is working towards having video technology to be put into use for official matches and especially for international matches involving the FIFA World Cup.
There was an incident that occurred over 7 years ago which involved Republic of Ireland and France facing off against each other in a two-legged football play-off match that saw the French side coming out on top with a final scoreboard of 2-1 as they qualified for the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
In this FIFA World Cup qualifying play-off match between Republic of Ireland and France, something extremely controversial happened as Thierry Henry was shown touching the ball with his left hand before slipping it over to his teammate William Gallas who edged the victory for France.
After the qualification match was over, Thierry Henry himself admitted that it was a hand-ball as he said: “Yes, there was hand, but I’m not the referee. ‘Toto’ (SébastienSquillaci) was going for the front, I was behind two Irishmen, the ball ricocheted and hit my hand. Of course, I continued to play. The referee did not whistl ‘hand’ but I can’t say there wasn’t hand’’
The own player admitted to have made a hand-ball and Howard Webb wants to stop things like these from occurring in the future and this is why the former referee is working towards having video technology implemented in matches.
“We all share that love for the game. The game is played with high tempo and an ebb and flow, but what we want to do is cut out situations where we make errors, and they’re made for good reason, referees have to make a decision in the blink of an eye. … There are situations with the speed and pace of the game and the way the game is played these days where it is ever more difficult to make all of the right decisions all of the time’’ Howard Webb said.
Howard Webb is working as the U.S. head of video assistant refereeing and hopes that he can make a change to the sport of football.
