What would have happened if in 1986, Diega Maradonna's infamous handball to score against England in the World Cup had been picked up by the referee, would the world be better?

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I am not a football fan but, I really enjoy watching the World Cup. To me, it is much more like the Olympics, a bit more pure as players are in teams battling for a common goal but, they do not normally play together, at least professionally and are often even rivals. But, this year, I am somewhat disappointed by the inclusion of the on-field review system.

The Eye of God.

 
Yes, it is more precise and means that there are a lot less mistakes that happen as in high-definition, superslow motion, much better decisions can be made that at speed however, it takes away a great deal of the emotional element. It takes away the close calls, the wrong calls, the mistakes and, the history altering events like The hand of God moment pictured. It takes away 30 years of discussion, articles, documentaries and, it takes away the discourse between rivals.

I remember watching the 2006 world cup match between Australia and Italy at a full bar and in the dying minutes, Australia was denied advancement because of a penalty shot awarded to Italy on what in replay, was clearly a dive. After the game, an Italian friend in the same bar said, we will take the win of course but, Australia was robbed.

Thems the breaks.

 
This is the problem I have with the reviews, it takes away the randomness of the referee which many will consider a good thing, when it works in their favor but, it takes away the conversation between my friend and I too. The jokes and the teasing. It takes away the controversy and, it undermines having the referee on the field of play at all. A few more cameras, perhaps some wearable sensors and an AI whistle can do the job better and with a lot more consistency than any human.

Precision is an excellent trait but passion and creativity is something that being precise often destroys. Having the somewhat lottery effect and 'on the day' brings with the game a lot of conversation and makes it much more edge of the seat, much more enjoyable to watch. This is sport after all, no one should be getting killed over it.

Now, imagine a world where everything you do is filmed, on camera, replayable and able to be spread virally, how do people act and talk? Well, we live in a world like that now and it is only getting worse. Introduce the continual encroachment on privacy and soon, The Eye of God will make sure none of us are having any discussions at all for fear of retribution.

Lessons from replay

 
I have been out kicking a football around with my daughter the last few months and she really enjoys it. This World Cup is the first time she has ever watched any TV and even though she doesn't stare, she doesn't mind sitting for a few minutes with me before running off to kick the ball with the dog. Watching the games has introduced a new aspect to her game she has never had before. Falling. Yes, now she is a diver. She runs around kicking the ball and then randomly falls over and in Finnish or English shouts Fall!

Diving is one of the worst aspects of the game in my opinion as there is incentive to cheat as it is often rewarded with a free kick. For people who can do so much with a ball and their feet so quickly, you'd think they would have more luck staying upright. But, if you take it from my daughter's perspective, there is a great deal of it and it is shown in replay and slow motion over and over, of course she is going to think it important.

Since it is there though

 
I heard (from my wife so take it with a grain of salt) that the players have at least 32 official cameras on them while on the field which means essentially, everything is recorded at least once. I am not for having every tackle reviewed but, to reduce the impact and incentive of diving, the entire game should be reviewed by the referees post-match and, yellow cards issued to those they consider as taking dives. On the field of play they might get away with it but, they will still be punished and potentially miss games because of it.

If they are going to pack the cameras onto the field, rather than let it delay the game as often as it does (important decisions like penalty kicks can be reviewed) control the on-field behaviors off-field. Create a cost to being a bad actor and make those on the field adjust so as not to be penalized later.

One of the best parts of the game is seeing a player struggle through a few opponents , take a few knocks, a tug on the shirt and still manage to get a shot off and curl it into a corner of the net. Currently, they play for the foul instead of the glory, they fall to the ground when they could have stood a hero.

For the final

 
Today against Peru is likely the last game Australia plays in this World Cup and what I am hoping for more than just a win, is a hard-fought competition between players who are looking to play their best, and the best one can do is not to fall and listen for a whistle and a favor. That way, win or lose, good or bad call, there is nothing else that could have been done.

We live in a world that seems to continually reward cheating, corner-cutting and reduction of responsibility when the incentives should be aligned to be quite the opposite. It is a world of middlemen and referees because players of the game just can't be trusted to have integrity. People are people and will always optimize their actions to maximize their returns, no matter who else is on the field. Maybe we should all have 32 cameras on us.

Taraz
[ a Steem original ]