Why do I feel like this isn’t as simple as it looks?
Major League Soccer commissioner Don Garber told a room full of editors Thursday that Major League Soccer is ready, willing and theoretically able to implement goal-line technology – if it’s approved in July by the sport’s rule-making body.
And the technology does exist. So, do you see how simple that sounds?
The chips, wires and software are prepped. A modern, professional league has the will. Now all we need is an X on the dotted line, a simple ol’ stamp of approval from the International Football Association Board, the game’s rule-making body. They meet in July. Easy breezy, see?
Testing is going on now, so perhaps there’s reason to be optimistic. Still, when meetings are held and approval is required of politically anchored groups with lots of capital letters, a big, frustrating, bog-down never seems far away.
For those inclined to be half-full types: approval could be granted in July, in which case Major League Soccer would be in position to be the first to implement this long-overdue applied science.
The Premier League hopes to join the high-tech party for its 2012-13 season, which kicks off in late August. Wouldn’t it be nice if MLS got the global publicity bounce of being the first professional league to deploy the devices around all its grounds?