Should

Soccer Start
Using
Instant
Replay?
By: Izabella Drogoszewski

Table of Contents:
Introduction - Page 1
Referee Makes Bad Call - Page 1
Explanation of Offside - Page 2
Stats on Referee Mistakes - Page 3
Why Do People Not Want Instant Replay? - Page 4
Text Message - Page 5
Notes - Page 7
Works Cited - Page 8

Technology has become something commonly used in most sports today. It has helped to
allow fans and officials to fully know what is happening, when games begin to go too fast, or if
theyre just to far away to see exactly what just happened. Soccer though has not adapted at the
same speed as other sports. It wasn't too long ago soccer finally got a set goal line technology
system. Based on the slow pace to adapt it makes one wonder if soccer while ever come around
to using instant replay like many other sports. The use of instant replay has already proven
beneficial in a plethora of other sports by helping to confirm close calls and correct mistakes a
referee might have made. So why is soccer so slow to pick up this technology, especially with

the amount of mistakes referees often make from incorrect penalty decisions, to completely
blown offside calls.

Above is a video that includes me explaining what exactly happened in this Liverpool vs
Arsenal game that ended tied 0-0. (If the video does not work there will be a separate
attachment.)
If someone does not actively engage in soccer they will not understand exactly what an
offside call is. So they will not fully understand what is happening in the above clip. Because of

this I have made a diagram of a soccer players with blue and pink dots to represent players to
help explain what being offsides means.

The blue forward on the bottom of the diagram with a star above is in an offside position
as he is in front of both the second-to-last opponent (marked by the dotted line) and the ball. This
does not necessarily mean he is committing an offside offence. It only becomes an offence if the
ball is played while he is in an offside position and he subsequently interferes with play (such as
receiving a pass), interferes with an opponent, or somehow gains an advantage by being in an
offside position (such as receiving a deflected ball) no matter if any of these events occur after he
moves to an onside position.
Now if the blue forward previously talked about was behind the ball instead of in front of
the ball the forward would not be offsides despite the fact that he is in front of all of his outfield
opponents.
In April 2012 Walter Broeck reviewed games from several infamous teams like Arsenal,
Manchester City, and Liverpool. He reviewed the referees specifically to find how many errors
were made. Below I have taken the statistics and put them together in order of most games
refereed to least, to show exactly how many mistakes referees makes.
Referee Name

Games they refereed

Total wrong calls

Average wrong calls a

game

Webb

13

182

14

Dean

12

166

14

Dowd

11

83

Atkinson

77

10

Clattenburg

76

10

Jones

73

12

Oliver

50

Walton

98

16

Referee Name

Games they refereed

Total wrong calls

Average wrong calls a

game

Halsey

96

16

Probert

85

14

Marinner

82

14

Friend

50

10

Mason

70

18

Foy

68

17

Attwell

18

Taylor

40

13

Moss

Swarbrick

111

1327

214

Total

It has been shown the refs in soccer games sometimes make their calls off of biases.
Thomas Dohmen wrote a paper about how social forces impact soccer officials, and found that
the crowd in a match influences soccer officials, sometimes as far as the awarding of penalties
and length of added time. Instant replay technology can help put a stop to this.
The main reason people are against the use of instant replay in soccer is it will slow down
the game. One thing soccer is known for is being extremely fast paced compared to other sports
and with the use of instant replay it could get slowed down extremely. Soccer is a game of
motion, timing, and momentum. It is not a game of plays like American football. Scoring and
penalties especially are relatively uncommon, while throws and even free kicks and crosses are
mostly taken pretty quickly while players jostle for position. FIFA is the international federation
of association football, it is the international governing body of association football. The FIFA

President Sepp Blatter has said "Let it be as it is and let's leave [football] with errors. The
television companies will have the right to say [the referee] was right or wrong, but still the
referee makes the decision a man, not a machine. Blatter and others at FIFA have repeatedly
argued against using instant replay. But lately, FIFA has begun to come around on the idea. At
FIFA's Congress in So Paulo prior to the 2014 World Cup, Blatter proposed allowing managers
two challenges per game, much like the NFL handles challenges today.
Although it's not quite "instant replay," in 2012 FIFA approved two different goal-line
technologies to improve referee accuracy: "Hawk-Eye" -- which uses visual triangulation to
determine ball location -- and "GoalRef" -- which uses a microchip in the ball and magnetic
sensors within goalposts. (Many say FIFA approved the technologies in response to Frank
Lampard's snubbed "goal" against Germany in the 2010 World Cup.) In 2013, FIFA announced it
would use GoalControl, a German competitor to Hawk-Eye, at the Confederations Cup, basically
a rehearsal for the World Cup. After a successful run at that tournament, FIFA announced it
would implement GoalControl at the 2014 World Cup.

I decided to ask for the opinion of a college soccer player. He stated that he believes
instant replay should be used, but only on game changing issues. This would help solve the issue
of the fear that some have that instant replay would be overused and slow down the game
drastically.
There are clear reasons to use and not use instant replay in soccer. On one side there is
the worry of it slowing down the game. Then on the other end it would help to end the
controversy of the amount of bad calls referees make. I believe if the use of instant replay is
implemented correctly than it would be more beneficial than not.

Notes:
My first genre I picked to show my audience an example of a referee making a bad call.
I made this video into my own genre by talking over it to help explain what exactly is going
on in the video to my audience.
Next I drew a soccer field and put in different color dots to represent players.
I did this to help explain to my audience what exactly offside is.
This is important because offside and onside calls are some of the most common mistaken
calls made by refs
I made a chart of all the statistics I had collected on how often referees make mistakes during a
game.
I thought seeing actual numbers of how many mistakes are made would help to put things
into perspective.
I included the counter argument of why instant replay should no be used to fully show both
sides.
I included the text message genre because I thought asking for the opinion of someone who
is at a higher level of soccer than I have ever played would be even more beneficial.

Works Cited:
By Roger Gonzalez. "WATCH: Bad Offside Call Costs Arsenal, Ramsey
Goal vs. Liverpool." CBSSports.com. N.p., 24 Aug. 2015. Web. 08 Nov.
2016.
By Subscribing, You Agree to the Privacy Policy and Terms of Service. "Why
Is FIFA against Adding Instant Replay to the Game?" Rules. N.p., n.d. Web.
08 Nov. 2016.
Antonio Paoli, Antonino Bianco, Antonio Palma, Giuseppe Marcolin. (2012)
Training the Vertical Jump to Head the Ball in Soccer. Strength and
Conditioning Journal 34, pages 80-85.
(peer reviewed source)
Thomas W. Kaminski, Eric S. Cousino, Joseph J. Glutting. (2008)
Examining the Relationship Between Purposeful Heading in Soccer and

Computerized Neuropsychological Test Performance. Research Quarterly for

Exercise and Sport 79:2, pages 235-244.
(peer reviewed source)
Dowley, Conor. "Soccer Needs Replay ASAP." SBNation.com. N.p., 08 May
2015. Web. 08 Nov. 2016.
By. "How Instant Replay Can Improve Soccer." Soccer Politics The Politics
of Football. N.p., 24 Feb. 2016. Web. 08 Nov. 2016.
"Refereeing." - U.S. Soccer. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 Nov. 2016.
Thomas W. Kaminski, Eric S. Cousino, Joseph J. Glutting. (2008)
Examining the Relationship Between Purposeful Heading in Soccer and
Computerized Neuropsychological Test Performance. Research Quarterly for
Exercise and Sport 79:2, pages 235-244.
(peer reviewed)
Broeckx, By Walter. "How Many Wrong Calls Does Each Ref Make per
Game and in Favour of Whom?" Untold Arsenal Arsenal News Supporting
the Club the Players and the Manager. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 Nov. 2016.