Man Vs Machine

A sport is a competition in which competitors test each other’s skills in order to win or reign superior to others. This is possible when the rules, regulations and decision making is fair, firm and same to all competitors. A wrong decision by the referee can change the whole complexion of the competition and sometimes even the better competitors face defeat. These mistakes have become a part of sport and its history and it seems like things should change with immediate effect in order to make any sport a fair one.

Who can forget the 7 wrong decisions Billy Bowden made in Bangalore which handed Australia a test and series win over India? What about the awesome goal scored by Frank Lampard in 2010 FIFA World Cup which was eventually disallowed as the referee didn’t see it! Even the crucial bookings given wrong deplete the strength of a team causing defeat. In hockey a slight deviation in the penalty area leads to a penalty corner even if the ball didn’t touch the player’s foot. Wrong decisions have become a part of sport and even though technology can burn the negative out of the game, governing bodies keep delaying the implementation of referral systems.

There is no technical flaw in athletics because technology is used to full effect. In Tennis referral system is used but in a limited manner and it has cut down the number of wrong decisions per match. In any sport technology can provide almost 100% performances in fair decision making.

Sport governing bodies say that a lot of time will be consumed if every ball in the over or every volley or every kick is reviewed. There are some drawbacks in technology as well… it’s been proved that if Hawk-eye is used for every ball that hits the pads, any team might get all out within 100 runs. In tennis every volley will be questioned, in football every if handball will be given then it will end ‘advantage play’ which is a key feature of the sport. In hockey every second move will lead to a penalty corner, there will be no pace left in the game.

Sport will become dull if technology is used to full effect and fair decisions will be less if a person judges a sport. Machine can provide what’s right and man can provide what’s fair. I don’t know why the Governing bodies come with the idea of Man or Machine? The collaboration of human understanding and technical precision may not provide 100% fair-play but it can get maximum decisions right as well as fair according to the play. Immediate reaction to bad decisions by implementing man-machine combination will definitely make any sport lover happy.

Tags: Billy Bowden, Decision Making, FIFA World Cup, Frank Lampard, Regulations, Rules, Sport, Sports, Technolgy