Sport 07-01-2005 Ref`s Error Cost Spurs Dearly who: Spurs what: Cheated out of two points in Man Utd game as referee fails to give late goal where: Old Trafford, MANCHESTER when: Tuesday night snippet: A refereeing howler by Mark Clattenburg at Old Trafford on Tuesday night led to fresh calls for new touchline technology in football this week. Spurs were denied victory when Manchester United goalkeeper Roy Carroll hooked the ball out of the net back into the field of play and got away with it, resulting in a 0-0 draw. "A minute was left on the clock when Pedro Mendes, the Tottenham Hotspur midfield player, spotted Roy Carroll out of his goal and produced a stupendous 50-yard lob that seemed to dipping just under the crossbar," says Oliver Kay in The Times. "Carroll, backpedalling desperately, reached the ball in time but then he dropped it, allowing the ball to bounce at least two feet beyond the goalline." The Telegraph defends linesman Rob Lewis, conceding that to make a decision with 100% certainty he would have had to run 38 yards in the time it took the ball to fly through the air. But it was definitely a goal and every football fan agrees that the decision went the wrong way. So what could have been done differently? The Guardian`s viewpoint is that Roy Carroll should have "fessed up" and states unequivocally that the goalkeeper "cheated, in a rather serious, though not unusual way". Spurs boss Martin Jol told the press he was loathe to call the incident "a disgrace" but couldn`t help himself, noting that "there`s so much technology in the world and in football". But what technology? Both Sir Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger have given their support for the use of video replays to help refs to make their decisions. The Telegraph says there could be "a Cyclops-style system to assist officials in establishing whether balls have crossed the line". But the Football League is planning a trial of a more elaborate solution, according to The Guardian, which says a computerised tracking system will use a "tiny radio chip sewn into the ball" which will transmit "2,000 signals a second to a network of aerials hidden in the flood lights or under the stadium roof". This will present a dilemma for the FA, whose support for grass-roots football means rules and regulations traditionally must apply universally, from the most lowly Sunday League upwards. [... more]

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