Goals are the ultimate measure of success in any football competition; big and small alike. Most recently in one of Europe’s top flight leagues – Serie A, in a pulsating match pitying two of the league’s biggest sides; Milan, and the old lady of Italian football Juventus, the referee failed to spot Milan’s Sulley Muntari’s clear goal. Perhaps the best example of a goal denied in the biggest stage in competitive football has to be England international’s Frank Lampard’s disallowed goal at the 2010 FIFA world cup in South Africa. Up until the 38th minute when the moment that could ultimately be the game changer in football refereeing occurred, Germany was leading by two goals to one. The England team was pressing hard for an equalizer before halftime and just when they thought they had it, their celebrations were cut short . Uruguayan linesman Mauricio Espinosa failed to spot Frank Lampard’s rasping shot that had rebounded from the cross bar and crossed the line. The match ended in a 4-1 convincing victory for the Germans inflicting the biggest loss to the England football team in a world cup tournament. This loss left a bitter taste in neutrals as well as English fans who thought had Lampard’s goal been allowed then just maybe they would have won the match or lost honorably.

FIFA President Sepp Blatter who was initially opposed to the introduction of technology reversed his position following that incident and has since then been at the fore front of advocating for technology in the game to avoid a repeat in subsequent world cups. However UEFA’s president Mitchel Platini (the favourite to take on Blatter’s post), is skeptical about the issue preferring instead the addition of match officials. Platini is quoted as having said “What scares me is that if we start to use technology for things that have little point, we will also move onto offside technology, because there are five offsides per match,”.
My opinion on this issue is that goal line technology needs to be implemented as soon as possible .Other sports such as Tennis, rugby, and cricket have adopted it and the controversy and continuity in these sports is less important than the clarity the technology provides. Making a mistake in the course of duty in any profession is inevitable and referees and their assistants are no exceptions but do we really have to put up with their imperfections when we can help them? The answer to this question is a huge no something has to be done and fast. A decision on goal line technology as well as other critical decisions affecting the modern game such as a fourth substitute in extra time ,assistant referees, the triple punishment in red cards ,the hijab and vanishing spray is due in July 2 this year.
References
Ifab agrees to test goal-line technology systems before decision in July Gurdian.co.uk 3rd March 2012

Sepp Blatter says he can convince Ifab to bring in goal-line technology Gurdian.co.uk 2nd March 2012

Denied Muntari goal causes ripples Africaplays.com 26th February 2012