FIFA's Boss Sees the Light on Video Replay

Anyone who knows anything about world soccer knows that FIFA president Sepp Blatter is not particularly good at his job, nor is he the kind of guy who can lead world football into a golden age (tin or zinc at best). He has been vehement in his opposition to video technology on the field. After two terrible referee decisions on Black Sunday, though, Mr. Blatter has done something rare in the world of sports business, or global politics. He has changed his mind.

In the first instance, England's Frank Lampard drove the ball into the underside of the crossbar during the game against Germany. The ball ricocheted to the ground close to a meter across the line. However, neither the linesman nor the referee saw the ball in the goal (everyone else on the planet did) and play continued. At that point, Germany led 2-1. The game ended 4-1 after a terrible second half by an English side so awful that most pub sides could have beaten them. So the non-goal didn't change the outcome really, but it highlighted the value of the replay.

On the very same day, Argentina was taking care of business against Mexico, and a goal was allowed Carlos Tevez, who was so far offside one would think he had left the field in search of refreshment. Once again, the positioning of the referee and linesmen prevented them from making the right call. Remember, these followed the two USA goals that were called back for offside (both doubtful at best).

When confronted with the video evidence of the errors, Mr. Blatter announced that he was going to revisit the idea of video replay. Until now, he had opposed it because he felt (and not wrongly) that the game should be played by the same rules in the playgrounds of the world as it is in its stadia However, Lord Keynes famously said, "When the facts change, I change my mind. What do you do, sir?" Sunday's games changed the facts in the argument, and Mr. Blatter had altered his position.

Moreover, he personally contracted the English Football Association and the Mexican soccer organization to apologize. "I apologized to England and Mexico," he said. "The English said thank you and accepted that you can win and you lose, and the Mexicans bowed their head and accepted it." Perhaps, it was less poetic than that, but he did the right thing.

Now, if there is a single instance of an American politician doing that without being hounded out of office for being a "flip-flopper" one would like to hear of it.

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