- Title: SWITZERLAND: UEFA AGREES TO INVESTIGATE NEW TECHNOLOGY FOR FOOTBALL REFEREES
- Date: 17th December 2004
- Summary: NYON, SWITZERLAND (DECEMBER, 17, 2004) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 1. UEFA CHIEF SPOKESMAN WILLIAM GAILLARD WALKING INSIDE UEFA HEADQUARTERS 2. SOUNDBITE (English) WILLIAM GAILLARD, UEFA CHIEF SPOKESMAN, ASKED ABOUT THE ITALIAN SOCCER FEDERATION REQUEST TO FIND WAYS FOR THE INTRODUCTION OF TV DEVICES ABLE TO HELP REFEREES AND THEIR AIDES IN TAKING THE RIGHT DECISIONS ON THE PITCH, SAYING: "We are open to the idea that we have to look into what the technology can bring. We don't know what the outcome of the investigation could be. At the same time, in the end it will be for the Board to make a decision. The Board usually likes to keep the game the way it has always been but obviously we are looking into this with a very open mind." 3. PEOPLE INSIDE UEFA HEADQUARTERS 4. SOUNDBITE (English) WILLIAM GAILLARD SAYING: "We do not want anything that will cause the flow of the game to be interrupted. We want something that could give us a result instantly without having people like in American football spending two or three minutes looking at a camera so again, is the technology there, can it help us? We will see." 5. FLAGS OUTSIDE UEFA HEADQUARTERS Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
- Embargoed: 1st January 2005 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: NYON, SWITZERLAND
- Country: Switzerland
- Reuters ID: LVA2R1P050QEL4IPYWK1OM864914
- Story Text: UEFA agreed to investigate how new technology might
be able to help referees.
There were certainly audible rumblings from UEFA's
Nyon headquarters in Switzerland on Friday (December 17)
when the executive committee of European soccer's governing
body agreed to investigate how new technology might be able
to help referees.
The last innovation to help match officials get
decisions right is so discreet that no-one can see it and
it is hardly hi-tec.
For the last 10 years linesmen have pressed a buzzer on
the end of their flag handles to send a signal to a sensor
on the referee which tells the man in the middle the linesman is
waving at him.
That is simple enough, but obviously does not help
with, for example, controversial offsides, dubious goals,
or dodgy goalline clearances.
UEFA is reacting to a request from the Italian FA that
the games governors start to examine how technology might
help the sport.
UEFA's announcement was apparently made with the
backing of FIFA president Sepp Blatter, which is almost
more revolutionary than the idea of using new technology
itself.
Blatter's mantra has for years been unyielding. His
credo is that football, the game of the masses, must retain
its human face -- a sport played for and by humans.
- Copyright Holder: REUTERS
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2015. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
- Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
