To TMO, or not to TMO?

As football fans, we are always demanding and hoping for world class refereeing, but rarely get it. Increasingly over the past few years, the idea of a football Television Match Official (TMO) has been on the radar very much but after decisions to put it off from the top of football, that idea is yet to materialise into a reality.

Would a TMO disrupt the flow of the beautiful game? Has technology moved on so far in recent years that a TMO should be formality of football? Who knows?

The argument against it is simple. Football is loved worldwide because of the free flowing and rapid pace of it, right? So a TMO would only stop that, making matches less exciting and more stop-start. Although bad decisions in matches are made regularly by the refs, they are part of what we have grown to know. One of main reasons so many people pay their money to watch their team is because they love football and there should be nothing in the world to stop that. It's true, we all love football, so why not leave it how it is? 

The highly supported counter argument to this is that technology is moving at such a high pace and football is being left behind, much like football is moving on and Arsene Wenger is being left behind. The fans who pay £50+ for every match to watch their team expect the best from referees and unfortunately they are regularly let down. If you are paying that much money, you want to see a high quality match with high quality refereeing but if that is not the case, are you the fool for paying that much expecting far to much or are the FA the fool for not adding a TMO into matches?

In recent months the demand for a TMO has been tremendous with serious chats about a TMO being introduced for the next FA Cup. We have seen glimpses of it in recent years with ex-referee Howard Webb analysing key decisions in matches shown by BT Sport. In one instance, Harry Redknapp was asked whether a foul should have been a penalty or not, his response being "stone-wall penalty, Jake". They then went to Howard Webb who then said that the attacker forced the contact with the defender therefore the original decision of it not being a penalty was correct. Redknapp then said, "well no one knows the rules of football anymore!" 

In light of the recent International break, the fixture between France and England was one of the first high level matches to have the TMO involved in it. A decision was overruled by the TMO giving not only a penalty but a red card to the offender. The interruption took less than 40 seconds and proved its efficiency in a high pressure situation. 

As an Arsenal fan, I have experienced many frustrating refereeing decisions and believe that a TMO could only improve the beautiful game. The question is, why wouldn't you want correct ruling in a match?