Reading FC coach Wally Downes has warned that soccer games could become drawn-out four-hour affairs and be subject to abuse by advertisers if video technology is introduced. He believes soccer would be ruined if games become like American football matches, which require at least three hours to complete 60 minutes of actual play.
Downes’ warning was published the day before his side hosts Watford, the team that was the victim of Reading’s “phantom goal” when the two sides met in September. Referee Stuart Attwell, with the aid of his assistant, bizarrely awarded Reading a goal when the ball missed the target by two yards. The game finished 2-2 and rekindled the debate on the merits of goal-line cameras and video reviews.
Downes’ colleague, Reading manager Steve Coppell, is firmly in favor, but Downes said, “I believe the referee and linesmen are out there to make decisions and you live and die by them. People shouldn’t be too critical but trust their decisions. If they bring it in there will be no phone-ins or discussions on TV. Perhaps they should be careful with what they’re wishing for.”
Worse still, “if they stop the action for 30 seconds, someone will suggest putting in adverts. Television companies won’t allow there to be any dead air space. They aren’t going to want [TV pundit] Andy Gray talking in a studio when they can have a Weetabix or a car advert in there. The game will be stopping every five minutes. Then it will end up like American football and four hours long. And don’t tell me it won’t because it will.”