AN ARGUMENT FOR INSTANT REPLAY IN SOCCER.

AN ARGUMENT FOR INSTANT REPLAY IN SOCCER. I posted here three weeks ago about how baseball should immediately use instant replay for calls other than balls and strikes. Now, a major controversy has developed in soccer because a game which determined whether France or Ireland would qualify for the World Cup was decided by an illegal hand ball. France won because a double hand ball by Thierry Henry was not called, This article says: “Not only did Henry handle the ball twice blatantly, but two French players were clearly offside in the pass leading up to the incident.” The referee has been suspended for six months. It is an international incident, with President Sarkozy apologizing to Ireland (here is an Australian report). Apparently the referee’s vision was obscured. Instant replay would have forestalled this. I don’t know why sports officials don’t embrace the opportunity to avoid this kind of incident.