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The furore over
refereeing mistakes at the World Cup forced FIFA president Sepp Blatter
into an about-turn on Tuesday, reopening the debate on the use of
goalline technology.

The 74-year-old
Swiss president of world soccer’s governing body, who apologised on
Tuesday for the errors made by referees this week, has been a stubborn
opponent of technology for years.

He effectively
closed the door on further discussions about it three months ago at the
annual meeting of soccer’s law-making body, the International Football
Association Board (IFAB).

Although he has
again ruled out using video replays to help officials with decisions,
such as offsides, he said technology such as the Hawk-Eye system used
in tennis and cricket should be re-examined to determine if the ball
had crossed the line or not for a goal.

“It is obvious that
after the experiences so far at this World Cup, it would be a nonsense
not to reopen the file on goalline technology,” Blatter said at a
briefing with selected media on Tuesday.

He was referring
specifically to the incident in Sunday’s England-Germany match at
Bloemfontein when a shot from England midfielder Frank Lampard struck
the bar and bounced down well over the line when England, chasing a
comeback, were 2-1 down.

The goal was not given and Germany went on to win the second round match 4-1.

Although there was
a second controversial incident later in the day when Argentina scored
from an offside position against Mexico in a match they won 3-1,
Blatter emphasised no technology would be debated relating to video
evidence for offsides.

He said: “We will
look again at technology, goalline technology, at the business meeting
of the International Football Association Board in Cardiff, Wales, in
July.

“The only principle
we are going to bring back for discussion is goalline technology. For
situations like the Mexico game you don’t need technology.”

Open mind

Paul Hawkins, whose
Hawk-Eye Innovations company of Winchester, England, developed the
system, was keeping an open mind about Blatter’s comments.

Hawkins told
Reuters: “Mr Blatter has said this before and there have been other
changes of mind. All he said is that they will reopen the discussion,
they haven’t said they will change their minds.

“If they’re serious
about this then they’ll contact us and we’ll just wait to find out
whether this is just a little statement to defuse the current public
pressure.

“I have had my hopes dashed too many times in the past to get too
excited, but obviously we think we can help make football a better
game.” Only hours after Blatter spoke, World Cup referees said they
would welcome technology if it made their jobs easier and helped the
decision-making process.