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UEFA boss Michel Platini is just as bad as FIFA’s Sepp Blatter when it comes to stubbornness. In fact, he may even be worse as the ex-French player seems to be dead against the introduction of goal-line video technology in football. It’s hard to see any reason for this other than sheer pig-headedness and stupidity.

The UEFA president recently came out with the ridiculous statement that video replay will lead to “PlayStation football.’ He said that assistant referees behind each goal will solve football’s problems of goal-line decisions.  But the experiment with five on-pitch officials has already been in use for some time in various competitions and isn’t making much of a difference when it comes to controversial calls.

Platini also said referees need to be masochists to be able to handle the world-wide criticism that’s often directed towards them when they make the wrong calls. This goes to show he doesn’t really care about protecting the officials as he’s not willing to help them out by introducing technology to make the right calls and deflect the criticism away from them.

He goes on about football trying to help game officials gain more respect, but is showing them no respect himself by refusing to help them out. I’d love to see the officials band together and push for the reforms themselves to help make the game better and to shield them from all of the unnecessary abuse that’s hurled their way.

Blatter, at least, is taking the idea of goal-line technology into consideration as he knows his job is on the line and football fans all over the world are getting tired of monumental mistakes by referees in huge games, especially the World Cup. FIFA has often looked foolish and has come out of various situations with egg on its face because Blatter has refused to use video.

At least FIFA is thinking about it, but Platini continues to be narrow minded. He told the Scottish FA that one referee isn’t enough in today’s game. He then contradicted himself by saying there are 20 cameras at most games and they can see everything, whereas the referee has only one set of eyes.

He added that every time a referee makes a mistake, the cameras are able to pick it up and focus on it. Well if the cameras can see everything then doesn’t it make sense to use them? Platini is basically supplying ammunition for everybody who wants to see technology used.

He threw more gasoline on the fire when he said referees need support as they’re going to make mistakes because the system in use has been bad for the last 40 years. But he keeps insisting that behind-the-goal refs are the answer and that’s why they’re now used in Champions League games.

He said, “With so many cameras that can pick up incidents: the more eyes there are to assist the referee, the better the chance of spotting those incidents.”  Platini is a perfect example of a guy who can’t see the forest because of the trees and it’s time he was relieved from his post and somebody sensible took over.

FIFA dismissed experiments with goal-line technology in 2008 after it decided the systems, that have been so successful in other sports such as cricket and tennis and cricket, were no good for football. The organization also tried out balls with microchips in them, but called them too complicated.