Instant replays not the solution after poor weekend of Premier League officiating

The case for some sort of instant replay in the Premier League was made by Jose Mourinho on Sunday’s surprising appearance on Sky Sports’ Goals on Sunday program. Following Kevin Friend’s shocking first half performance in Southampton’s loss at St Mary’s to Liverpool on Sunday afternoon, Mourinho’s calls for replay seemed perfectly timed.  Coming from the perspective of American sports, replay has become a standard part of the game. But in soccer, it is much murkier as the team sports that are popular in the United States have built in stoppages and are designed for television. The beauty of soccer at all levels especially in the top European leagues is free-flowing nature of the game. Video replay would undermine this entirely.

Instant replay does not belong in the Premier League – full stop. While the standard of officiating must be upgraded in English soccer, ways exist to do this without entering an element that would irrevocably break up the flow of the sport.

Technology already plays a role in Premier League matches thanks to goal-line technology, which was introduced at the beginning of the 2013-14 season.  This eliminated the most common form of complaints about officials; the blown goal call. What has ensued since though is more hyper-analysis of missed offside and penalty calls. The longtime pundits Richard Keys and Andy Gray recently stated on BeIN Sports that this season was the worst on record for Premier League officials and that it is entirely possible that Mike Riley, the former center referee now in charge of the officiating in the league should go. This is a reasonable request given all the problems this season, but more does need to be done.

Officials need help, but not from an instant replay booth. FIFA and UEFA should encourage the training and employment of additional officials behind each goal who have a different depth perception than the assistant referees and the main official. A six-man officiating crew would help to eliminate many of the missed offside calls and the most controversial calls inside the 18-yard box.  Under this scheme, officials would be given communications devices so they could instantly alert one another and take a minimal amount of time before getting a call right, and getting on with the match.

Football’s governing bodies have been critiqued for their unwillingness to embrace technology. But a bigger problem is the unwillingness of those very same governing bodies to progressively train new officials and implement new methods of officiating. The stakes in the top divisions of European football are higher than ever and it is important to get the big decisions right, without altering the composition of a match.

Human error has always been part of this sport. While it may not seem ideal or perfect for so many American sports fans that are accustomed to a level of accountability, this sport’s popularity is largely based on its simplicity and flow. Instituting an American-style replay system would change the sport for the worse. However, changes must be made to the way the sport at the highest level is officiated and thus the Premier League should work with UEFA and FIFA to eventually employ additional officials behind each goal.