[ian@huth]

The problem with video replays is that the angle of the shot doesn't always reflect what has actually occured. I have seen fouls being analysed with shots from several different camera angles all appearing to show that a serious foul has been committed. A further shot from a different angle has shown a completely different story with it being evident that no foul had been committed. That further shot took some finding and many minutes of analysing all the different shots in slow motion were needed to arrive at the correct interpretation of what had happened. A referee with only one angle of sight and everything happening at full pace cannot always get things right. Stopping the game for several minutes to watch several slow motion replays of an incident is just not on.

In football technology could be used to verify if a ball had crossed a line or if a player was offside without affecting the flow of a game. Video replays could be used after the game by the referee to decide if a yellow or red card was justified or not. Perhaps in the case of a red card the player could be put in a sin bin with a fifth official studying video footage and advising the referee of his findings with the referee having the option if he thinks fit of allowing the player to return to the game from the sin bin.