Instant Replay: Yay or Nay?

Can Abbe Okalaja handle this?

Interesting discussion today during the La Liga action on GolTV regarding instant replay. Well, it seems like Ray Hudson and Phil Schoen argue about this everytime they're on GolTV's airwaves, but anyway. They discussed the recent decision to allow cameras on the goal line to determine if a ball has crossed the line. Ray said he'd rather see leagues use game tapes to punish dives, play-acting, and cheats.

Why not do both?

The NFL has been enhanced by using instant replay. College football uses it now as well. The main issue is that you CAN'T review plays that are judgment calls by the referee and/or linesmen. I wouldn't touch offside calls, for example. You could punish players if they score with their hand (sorry Mr. Maradona) as well. The main issue would be that you can't reverse calls in which the whistle has blown the play dead.

It would take some work, some guinea pigs, and some tweaking to make it effective, but I do think it is possible.

Cue random Kids In The Hall reference...

Now, onto the diving. The Greg Louganis style of play really needs to be eradicated. This is where video review, in the days after the game, can be used to issue post-match punishment. The referees' performances are already being reviewed, why not take the opportunity to use the referees' assessors to punish the play-acting?

MLS (and the USL for that matter) can be a leader in this department. It can be done in combination with an initiative to improve the overall officiating of US Soccer (another topic for another time, but we all know that we need more high quality referees). Work up a proposal, get it to the bigwigs at FIFA, and offer to be the pilot program for the project. Maybe we can get something in place prior to the next World Cup. Cristiano Ronaldo might hate it, but them's the breaks...

I must retire...