The problem is not that the refs don’t see the incidents. The problem is that the refs see the incidents but fail to make the right calls. Biased? Incompetent? So adding more refs will be a waste of resources. Also, Good refs are in short supply so where will these additional refs come from?

In retrospect, I also forgot to mention another point FIFA was making: “Where do we stop?”. In the sense, that they fear, that once you open the door for technology, there’s no going back and the game will degenerate into a stop and go event. Though, as the ill-fated “Golden Goal” rule proved, there is always the chance to go back again, when a rule change doesn’t have the desired effect. You can introduce a challenge system for video replays and you could still come to the conclusion that it’s too disruptive and either tone it down or even abandon it again. FIFA closes the door for technology for good and makes incidents like the bad offside decision against Fiorentina look like being “cherished traditions” in football. As if Fiorentina fans get mildly worked up about the call for a day or two and discuss it and then come to the conclusion that it’s cool that football is like that, because it got them talking.

The point of this piece is an excellent one, in my opinion. Perhaps there are ways to avoid death-threat-inducing mistakes in officiating such important fixtures.