by Royal Rother »
03 Oct 2012 11:11
Alexander Litvinenko Royal Rother Technology in sport (as in everything in life) will be so advanced in 30 years time that it is inconceivable that humans will still be ruling on potentially billion dollar game / season / life changing decisions without the aid of technology.
Can you not see that?

(I wasn't actually talking about the number of kids playing the game, rather the number of young men and women who would be prepared to pay thousands of pounds a season to watch a game where the outcome would ultimately be almost totally in the hands of fallible human beings... when it wouldn't need to be. They just would not accept it because for that generation it would be seen as a total farce.)
You're missing not only one of the key reasons that football is so popular across the globe but also a major part of human nature. People love to feel outraged/cheated/vindicated and to have something to argue about after the game - and this is a critical part of the game's appeal.
After every match, the major talking points - some of which live on for year and years - are 99% referee related. Take those out and the game is a whole lot less attractive to spectators and the media, and a whole lot less memorable. In terms of accuracy the game isn't perfect - and that is one of its appeals.
I personally can't conceive of a game of football where the post-match discussions are "Oh, Yes, every decision was correct" - take out the "We woz robbed" factor and you have a less attractive spectacle.
Look, I'm not missing that - I'm simply pointing out that there is no way that, whilst all other aspects of life get more and more controlled by technology, particularly (in the context of this discussion) decisions in other sports, there is no way that football will be allowed to lag behind. The younger generation just wouldn't tolerate it.
Think where we've come in the last 10 years (let alone 30 years). I'm not even saying I like it but I do have a mind that is open to where the world is heading and it is simply inconceivable to me that technology will not be, at the very least, assisting in most key decisions affecting top-level professional football matches in the year 2042.