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FROM THE BOUNDARY - Professional sport and technology
published: Friday | December 7, 2007
Tony Becca
ONCE UPON a time, in the days when amateur sport was the thing, when sport, big time sport and competitive sport, was reserved for the rich, and when amateurs, well-tanned amateurs, were kings, participation, it was said, was the most important thing in sport.
In other words, as nice as winning was in those days, as sweet as the taste of victory was, participation was the important thing.
While there are those who still maintain, or who still preach, that participation is still more important than winning, the reality, in this age of professionalism, is that winning is the most important thing in sport.
For those who do not know, or who do not believe it, some professionals are so well paid that they earn, in one year, more, much more, than some ordinary mortals earn in a lifetime.
It is strange, therefore, that despite the change from amateurism to professionalism, that in spite of the fact that so much money is now in sport, that sports franchises are billion-dollar affairs with payrolls running into millions upon millions of dollars, that fans pay hundreds of dollars for one ticket to watch their team play, and that so much money rides on the result of a match that so many sport, and especially so cricket and football, are behaving as if they are still operating in the days of the amateurs and are playing under the same conditions - the gentleman's understanding which says that whatever the umpire, the referee, says or does, right or wrong, is final.
Archaic rules
Imagine that in cricket, in this day and age of professionalism and technology, a batsman, for example, is still being given out leg before wicke the ball touched his bat before hitting his pad. Imagine that a batsman is still being given out caught at the wicke the ball touched his body and not his bat, and imagine that despite the rule which says that a batsman cannot be out off a no-ball, that a batsman is still being given out bowled, or caught, or leg before when the bowler has bowled a no-ball that can be seen from the distance of the stands.
And it is no different in football.
In football, a goal is the most important thing, and it is difficult to score a goal.
It is so difficult to score a goal in professional football that sometimes, after 90 minutes, only one goal is scored, sometimes after 90 minutes not even one goal is scored, and yet there have been times, many times, when a goal has been scored and not given.
One such incident was the Manchester United/Spurs match a few years ago when, with Spurs trying to make it to the Champions League, with the score 0-0 and a few minutes remaining, a Spurs player picked up the ball near the half-line, saw the United goalkeeper way off his line and lobbed the ball into the empty goal with the goalkeeper beating a hasty, desperate, and futile retreat.
Referee Graham Pol did not award the goal, claiming afterwards, after a protest from the players and after television replays later on, that he did not see what had happened.
And a goal scored and not awarded is not the only problem. There was the incident in a Champions League match a few years ago when a player on the left wing crossed the ball, one of his forwards went for it, so too did the opposing goalkeeper, the forward, near to the edge of the penalty area, headed the ball, the ball was going into the goal, a defender tipped the ball over the crossbar, the ref did not blow, and despite protests from the attacking team, nothing happened.
Although the attacking team should have been awarded a penalty and the offending player sent off, again the ref said he did not see what had happened.
Not so bad
That, however, was not bad - not when compared with happened at Goodison Park on Wednesday in the UEFA Cup match between Everton of England and Zenit of Russia.
With Zenit needing at least a draw and one point to keep alive any realistic hope of moving into the knockout stage of the competition, they lost a man when, with Everton pressing, with the Zenit goalkeeper beaten and the goal empty, with the ball going into the goal, and with defender Nicolas Lombaerts stopping the ball with his chest with his hands behind him and then flicking it clear with his right foot, referee Kristin Jakobsson of Iceland blew his whistle and not only signalled a penalty but also sent Lombaerts off the field.
Because of the angle, the referee may well have believed that Lombaerts had handled the ball. Apart from the fact that the commentators were flabbergasted, however, it was obvious to me watching the television that Lombaerts had not touched the ball with his hands, and the television replays, many of them, showed that Lombaerts' hands were far from the ball.
There are some things in sport which a sportsman or a sportswoman simply have to swallow. There are some things, however, especially so in this age of professional sport and modern technology, particularly so where it can be the difference between winning and losing, which he or she should not have to endure.
Professionals should survive or not, based on their skill and not, depending on what the umpire or the referee sees or does not see, on their luck.
published: Friday | December 7, 2007
Tony Becca
ONCE UPON a time, in the days when amateur sport was the thing, when sport, big time sport and competitive sport, was reserved for the rich, and when amateurs, well-tanned amateurs, were kings, participation, it was said, was the most important thing in sport.
In other words, as nice as winning was in those days, as sweet as the taste of victory was, participation was the important thing.
While there are those who still maintain, or who still preach, that participation is still more important than winning, the reality, in this age of professionalism, is that winning is the most important thing in sport.
For those who do not know, or who do not believe it, some professionals are so well paid that they earn, in one year, more, much more, than some ordinary mortals earn in a lifetime.
It is strange, therefore, that despite the change from amateurism to professionalism, that in spite of the fact that so much money is now in sport, that sports franchises are billion-dollar affairs with payrolls running into millions upon millions of dollars, that fans pay hundreds of dollars for one ticket to watch their team play, and that so much money rides on the result of a match that so many sport, and especially so cricket and football, are behaving as if they are still operating in the days of the amateurs and are playing under the same conditions - the gentleman's understanding which says that whatever the umpire, the referee, says or does, right or wrong, is final.
Archaic rules
Imagine that in cricket, in this day and age of professionalism and technology, a batsman, for example, is still being given out leg before wicke the ball touched his bat before hitting his pad. Imagine that a batsman is still being given out caught at the wicke the ball touched his body and not his bat, and imagine that despite the rule which says that a batsman cannot be out off a no-ball, that a batsman is still being given out bowled, or caught, or leg before when the bowler has bowled a no-ball that can be seen from the distance of the stands.
And it is no different in football.
In football, a goal is the most important thing, and it is difficult to score a goal.
It is so difficult to score a goal in professional football that sometimes, after 90 minutes, only one goal is scored, sometimes after 90 minutes not even one goal is scored, and yet there have been times, many times, when a goal has been scored and not given.
One such incident was the Manchester United/Spurs match a few years ago when, with Spurs trying to make it to the Champions League, with the score 0-0 and a few minutes remaining, a Spurs player picked up the ball near the half-line, saw the United goalkeeper way off his line and lobbed the ball into the empty goal with the goalkeeper beating a hasty, desperate, and futile retreat.
Referee Graham Pol did not award the goal, claiming afterwards, after a protest from the players and after television replays later on, that he did not see what had happened.
And a goal scored and not awarded is not the only problem. There was the incident in a Champions League match a few years ago when a player on the left wing crossed the ball, one of his forwards went for it, so too did the opposing goalkeeper, the forward, near to the edge of the penalty area, headed the ball, the ball was going into the goal, a defender tipped the ball over the crossbar, the ref did not blow, and despite protests from the attacking team, nothing happened.
Although the attacking team should have been awarded a penalty and the offending player sent off, again the ref said he did not see what had happened.
Not so bad
That, however, was not bad - not when compared with happened at Goodison Park on Wednesday in the UEFA Cup match between Everton of England and Zenit of Russia.
With Zenit needing at least a draw and one point to keep alive any realistic hope of moving into the knockout stage of the competition, they lost a man when, with Everton pressing, with the Zenit goalkeeper beaten and the goal empty, with the ball going into the goal, and with defender Nicolas Lombaerts stopping the ball with his chest with his hands behind him and then flicking it clear with his right foot, referee Kristin Jakobsson of Iceland blew his whistle and not only signalled a penalty but also sent Lombaerts off the field.
Because of the angle, the referee may well have believed that Lombaerts had handled the ball. Apart from the fact that the commentators were flabbergasted, however, it was obvious to me watching the television that Lombaerts had not touched the ball with his hands, and the television replays, many of them, showed that Lombaerts' hands were far from the ball.
There are some things in sport which a sportsman or a sportswoman simply have to swallow. There are some things, however, especially so in this age of professional sport and modern technology, particularly so where it can be the difference between winning and losing, which he or she should not have to endure.
Professionals should survive or not, based on their skill and not, depending on what the umpire or the referee sees or does not see, on their luck.
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