Kaka goal blunder fails to see Blatter soften stance on technology

Jun 29, 2009, 12:10 GMT

Johannesburg - The failure by a linesman to award a goal scored by Kaka in Brazil's 3-2 Confederations Cup final defeat Sunday of the United States does not appear to have softened FIFA president Joseph Blatter's attitude towards goal-line technology.

Kaka's second-half header - when the Selecao trailed 2-1 - came off the underside of the bar and clearly crossed the line but Swedish referee Martin Hansson waved play on.

'There should be no technology on the field,' said Blatter at the tournament's concluding press conference Monday when asked about the incident.

Blatter reiterated FIFA's stance that if there is technology it should only be along the goal-line, citing the experiment in this season's Europa League ­ formerly the UEFA Cup ­ where games will be played with two extra assistant referees behind the goal-lines.

'We are too conservative and behind technology but we're not so far behind tennis,' said Blatter.

'In tennis, you stop the game. In football the game goes on, it never stops.'

The FIFA boss said 'there will always be errors in football' and that it was part of the 'human face' which he wanted to keep, adding that it was good in life to have a little uncertainty.

FIFA tested a chip in the ball system at the Club World Cup in Japan in 2007. However, the experiment was complicated and the results inconclusive, although the German manufacturer adidas has now developed a new easier system that FIFA says it will investigate.

Meanwhile, Blatter said the goal-line technology tested last year in some European under-19 championship games, was not yet in a position to give the accuracy required.

Instead, football's ruling body will proceed with the extra goal- line officials, which is the brainchild of the UEFA president, Michel Platini.