Soccer needs instant replay as soon as possible

Technology is becoming a more prevalent part of modern sports, improving the ability of fans and officials alike to see what’s happening in a game, but soccer has been painfully slow to adapt. It took years of testing various goal line technology systems for officials to be confident about whether a ball actually crosses the goal line or not, and numerous controversies in big matches for any continental or national associations to start adopting it. Even now, we’re only starting to approach widespread usage, with multiple top leagues in Europe still skeptical.

Another technology that has only recently been discussed for use in soccer, despite its widespread utilization in other sports, is instant replay. It’s been in use in the NFL for 15 years, and since then a number of other sports have adopted versions of it as well. It’s hard to deny that it’s made the sports better. With the ability to correct mistakes and confirm close calls, games have improved and lingering doubts about the quality and impact of refereeing has -- with a few small exceptions -- largely been removed from the game.

And yet, when anyone brings up its use in soccer, they’re immediately shouted down. So many matches are turned completely upside-down by blown offside calls, incorrect penalty decisions and a myriad of other refereeing mistakes, and for no good reason. A simple glance at a monitor would be able to correct most of these errors in seconds.

We had another example of that on Thursday in a Europa League semifinal. Dnipro are heading home to Ukraine with an advantage over Napoli thanks to a 1-1 draw in Italy, where their goal featured a badly missed offside call. Two Dnipro players that were involved in the move were clearly offside, and the failure of the officials to make the right call has shifted the scope of the tie considerably. Up 1-0, Napoli would be huge favorites. At 1-1, they’re underdogs, thanks to the away goals tiebreaker.

This is just the latest example of why some form of replay is needed. Major ties shouldn’t be altered so significantly by one horribly blown call, especially when it’s so easily avoided. It doesn’t matter what kind of replay system is used -- one glance at a monitor would have changed that call.

Experimenting with replay is such a common-sense move, but we’re probably years away from it even being considered. Until then, match after match after match will be ruined by mistakes, misjudgments and refereeing incompetence. It’s an ugly situation, but one with a straightforward solution. Soccer’s major governing bodies can fix this tomorrow. They’re just choosing not to.