Sepp Blatter originally said FIFA would look into goal line technology this week, but it’s been moved to October.
The International Football Association Board will meet in Wales on Wednesday to discuss the option of having a referee behind the goals, but won’t discuss video technology to determine goals.
FIFA president Sepp Blatter said last month that IFAB would look at goal-line technology this week following his apology to England and Mexico for the officiating errors that helped eliminate them from the World Cup.
Jurgen Klinsmann and Steve McManaman both standby the need for goal line technology. If it does anything at all for the sport, it brings honesty and integrity to a game where the rules don’t allow for strict self-governance. In a sport like golf, the German goalkeeper Neuer would be called a cheat. But Neuer is simply playing by the rules. He’s probably even doing exactly what his coaches have instructed him from a very early age. He even proudly announced after the game that he had duped the referees. On ESPN, Steve McManaman at halftime called upon Germany to deliberately score an own goal at the start of the second half as a matter of fairness. That obviously did not happen. For a sport that seems to concern itself tremendously with the concept of “Fair Play”, there seems to be multiple definitions about what is fair when it comes to this topic.
Employing video technology for exactly one purpose—deciding whether the ball crossed the line—will hopefully be implemented at the October meeting. Jurgen Klinsmann, a leader of the German World Cup teams throughout the 90s, was right to describe the non-call as a “disgrace.” While the call is a disgrace, it’s important to note that I don’t feel the referee is a disgrace at all. I feel that we have saddled the one-man “decider” with too much responsibility and an impossible amount of ground to cover. While FIFA has TV cameras monitoring every blade of grass on the pitch, a referee only has two legs, two arms and two eyes. They can only cover so much ground by themselves and even with two linesmen, not every call can be accurately be made.
In the the Germany – England game, FIFA’s camera’s caught the truth. And if we want the greatest accuracy in the refereeing of the game, why not use the truth when you have it.
October can’t come soon enough.
Even with the delay, MarketingSoccer.com is pleased that the issue is still generating some attention from FIFA as the matter had been dismissed outright at FIFA’s March 6th meeting earlier this year.
Will MLS Be Able to Satisfy the Soccer Hunger?
According to MLSDaily, as of July 18th, 75% of MLS teams were experiencing an increase in average attendance from 2009. Four teams experienced percentage increases in the double digits, ranging from an almost 17% increase in average attendance for the Chicago Fire to an astounding 42.97% increase for the New York Red Bulls. The majority of the remaining teams saw increases between two and ten percent. While the World Cup is certainly a huge contributor to this recent surge, it’s safe to say that MLS has been building a successful product in North America for years and the league should be given credit for its ability to build strong soccer communities in various cities across the country.
Furthermore, MLS attendance is stacking up well in comparison to other soccer leagues across the globe, and even to other major sports leagues in the States. MLS’ average attendance ranks it third among American sports leagues, behind the NFL and MLB. This data is somewhat skewed because the teams play a different number of games on a weekly basis, but nevertheless, the MLS is hanging with the big guns. If the MLS were magically transported to Europe, it would rank among the top ten soccer leagues on the continent in terms of average attendance, clocking in at number seven. This would put it ahead of the Championship League and the Scottish Premier League.
previously considered American soccer unworthy of their attention.
Especially considering the current state of the U.S. economy, the MLS is doing very well for itself. In the same time that soccer’s average attendance has seen overall increases, baseball’s average attendance has declined by about 1% from the 2009 season. Soccer executives need to capitalize on the surge of interest in their sport, and they need to do it now.
More big-name stars are arriving to play on American soil. France’s Thierry Henry signed with the Red Bulls. Ronaldinho is rumored to be moving to the Los Angeles Galaxy. The stars of the U.S. Men’s National Team also stand to make bigger waves in MLS play, including current Galaxy teammates Landon Donovan and Edson Buddle. It would be advisable for the MLS to make a big advertising push to draw casual or new fans to the game, or even fans who
MLS also has a few scheduling issues to deal with if it hopes to gain any more ground on professional football or baseball. Many games tend to happen between 1 pm and 5 pm. These are not ideal times for families. Many soccer families would be at Little League Soccer games during the mid-afternoon hours, and as such the MLS would do well to move games to evening slots. Evening slots are also better for TV ratings, which is one area where the MLS is still struggling. The L.A. Galaxy’s games post-World Cup are achieving higher TV ratings than pre-World Cup games, but the numbers are essentially no different from 2009.
As MLS executives watched what happened in this country during the World Cup, they were probably thinking to themselves, “How do I translate that passion for the sport into ticket sales for my club.” Riding the wave of the World Cup may be the secret to “gaining trial” or “regaining trial” from soccer fans who have never been to a game or who haven’t been in a long time. Soccer fans may give MLS another look to satisfy their soccer hunger. And team executives are hoping they like what they see, hear, and feel of the in-stadium experience. The ultimate goal is that those fans will come back again and again. The biggest question that I imagine is on all of the MLS executives’ minds is at what point does the average soccer fan in America say “I’m an Fire fan” or “I’m a Galaxy fan” versus “I love soccer and this is the best product in my area to watch it live.” The challenge for MLS executives is being able to build loyalty around their particular team. It must be loyalty that transcends the popularity of one player, or even the sport at large. In order to sustain ticket sales over the course of years, it must be loyalty to the team.
The time is now for MLS to hop on the wave of popularity that the World Cup generated for soccer and become a legitimate entertainment option for the American sports fan. The World Cup is over, and MLS executives should take steps to ensure that their league fills some of the void in their soccer-starved fans.