[Totte]

Hmm... my thought was more that the fourth ref could look at the replays, and - if he thought it wise - call the refs attention/stop play. It should only be the fourth ref who can invite the ref on the field to the cameras; thus there shouldn't be TV-watching every time the ball is close to the goal.

If the doubt is concerning a questionable goal, there won't be any problem - there will be time for the 4th ref to call attention before play is continuing. And if there's doubts concerning a penalty, the ref can make his decision, and then be up to the 4th ref to change it. Of course this could cause problems, but then again - doesn't "penalty errors"?

There won't be need for everyone to see the replay - the pictures will be shown on TV anyway, eliminating the fourth refs possibility of cheating...

 

[Boyo]

Yeah, but that (TV) would be after the fact then... if it's shown on a screen at the stadium the fans can see it, the players can see it, the coaches, the managers... everyone will see it right away. So that would provide the neccesary 'social pressure' for the referee to make the right decision! Even if he is bought, with 100.000 people watching the same replay he is, he wouldn't dare disallow a goal that a whole stadium of fans, player, coaches, etc. (not to mention the live TV audience) cleary see going in!!

 

[Totte]

I wrote on this subject under another topic, but I think it deserves a topic of its own...

There has been little talk about anything but the ruled out Parma goal since last sunday. "Cheating" seems to be the general opinion. So, what do we want to happen as a counter measure, assuming that the talk has got some substance? Will a big investigation be enough to secure that the truth is found in this matter, and that it won't happen again? Will professional refs be enough? Maybe not. Investigations can be "fixed" as well as games - we're dealing with big fishes here. And pro refs are still humans.

This is were cameras COULD be a solution! I have always believed that ref mistakes is a part of the game, and that one must accept that. But this tolerance of mistakes, are also giving refs the possibility to make "mistakes".

Now, cameras, used by the fourth ref when goals are made or fouls are being comitted inside the penalty area, might minimize this possibility of willingly made "mistakes". It would be harder to cheat, since the referee's impact on game results would be smaller. Think about it: no good rueled out goals; no "lucky" penalties... what good would it be to "buy" a ref?

What do you think? Cameras, not to protect clubs from ref errors, but to protect the credability of Serie A...

 

[Boyo]

In American football they have a thing called the 'instant replay', which means that in the stadium there is a big tv screen on which a replay can be seen in case of a questionable situation on the field. And it's not just the referee who can see the replay, it's in full view of the audience.

Now because 'our' footbal is a lot faster, it may not be possible to use it in the exact same way the Americans use it... but with regards to the Cannavaro goal it could have been useful.

 

[Glen]

It might be a good idea.
having said that I can't help wondering how it would turn out in pracsis.
Imagine a striker whose shirt is being held just a little bit, he tumbles over (could be Inzaghi ) and cries to the ref. He isn't sure and would normally have waved play on, but now he consults the 4th. ref. with the videocamera. They will most propably find that there was no foul to begin with, but how long time would that take ? How many incidents would we see of this kind every game ? Would a game be 90 minutes ?
While i completely agree that we have to explore our options to make serie A more credible I won't support the idea that we should totally destroy the human element concerning the ref.
Futhermore it won't go through UEFA and FIFA as they've said time and time again.
Behind the goal refs. is another thing, and I'm positively certain that could work out as it does in handball (to those who are not that familair with handball, they have a court ref. and a goal ref.).
That would limit the risk of faults made by the ref. in the penalty area, but we would still have the human element of chance there.

I think that's a no lose situation.

Ciao.

 

[Boyo]

I would suggest to only use the instant replay in case of a disputed goal, usually those situations slow the game down already because everyone is complaining to the referee so there would not really be any more time lost.