BIRMINGHAM boss Alex McLeish admitted he was frustrated by the decision to rule out goal-line technology after seeing his side denied a goal in the FA Cup quarter-final against Portsmouth.
Football's rule-makers, the International FA Board (IFAB), voted against continuing any further experiments with goal-line technology in Zurich today.
The announcement was followed just minutes later by a controversial incident at Fratton Park when Birmingham should have been awarded a goal when the ball crossed the Portsmouth goal line.
McLeish's side were 2-0 down at the time and, on hearing the IFAB verdict after the match, he said: "That is a frustrating decision by FIFA because I think they are doing their officials a disservice.
"It's not easy for their guys to see it in a split second. We feel he should have seen that but in a split second, you see offside decisions (given).
"I know you can't stop every part of the game but certainly for key decisions in a major competition like the FA Cup, your chances of getting to semi-finals and finals are few and far between for a little club like us."
McLeish did concede that the officials should have seen the ball cross the line, even without the aid of technology.
"We should have had a lifeline with a perfectly legitimate goal but unfortunately it wasn't to be," he said.
"It would have given us a lifeline and I wouldn't bet against my team coming back if we got that goal. They've done that this season.
"You would expect an official at this level to see that. They do the fitness tests and part of that is the vision side of things. It's a shame the guy missed that, I'm sure he will be hurting about it.
"I don't see how he could be obscured because he was over the line. Nobody was over the line so he should have been on that corner flag. James actually landed and caught it behind the line."
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Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger said the decision was "beyond comprehension".
"For me, it is difficult to understand, for one reason because you want as much justice as possible," said the Gunners boss.
"I do not even think it is linked with the money factor. If you love football you want the right decisions to be made.
"Today there was an incident again at the Portsmouth game and I just do not understand why we rule that out.
"It is beyond comprehension for me that you can do that."
The announcement was followed just minutes later by a controversial incident at Fratton Park when Birmingham should have been awarded a goal when the ball crossed the Portsmouth goal line.
McLeish's side were 2-0 down at the time and, on hearing the IFAB verdict after the match, he said: "That is a frustrating decision by FIFA because I think they are doing their officials a disservice.
"It's not easy for their guys to see it in a split second. We feel he should have seen that but in a split second, you see offside decisions (given).
"I know you can't stop every part of the game but certainly for key decisions in a major competition like the FA Cup, your chances of getting to semi-finals and finals are few and far between for a little club like us."
McLeish did concede that the officials should have seen the ball cross the line, even without the aid of technology.
"We should have had a lifeline with a perfectly legitimate goal but unfortunately it wasn't to be," he said.
"It would have given us a lifeline and I wouldn't bet against my team coming back if we got that goal. They've done that this season.
"You would expect an official at this level to see that. They do the fitness tests and part of that is the vision side of things. It's a shame the guy missed that, I'm sure he will be hurting about it.
"I don't see how he could be obscured because he was over the line. Nobody was over the line so he should have been on that corner flag. James actually landed and caught it behind the line."
mfl
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger said the decision was "beyond comprehension".
"For me, it is difficult to understand, for one reason because you want as much justice as possible," said the Gunners boss.
"I do not even think it is linked with the money factor. If you love football you want the right decisions to be made.
"Today there was an incident again at the Portsmouth game and I just do not understand why we rule that out.
"It is beyond comprehension for me that you can do that."
Copyright (c) Press Association
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