Now why haven’t we thought about this before? If we just install sand-pits behind the goal line, we won’t need video technology!

The debate rumbles on after the round of 16 fiasco which saw both England and Mexico fall victim to FIFA’s baffling unwillingness to consider video technology, and one of the more interesting solutions to have cropped up comes from The Telegraph’s Mark Ogden, a solution so simple it’s actually funny.

Mark says that if you replace that box behind the goal line (which is usually turfed as well) with a sand-pit, then a shot like the one Frank Lampard had against Germany would have immediately sunk to the ground when it crossed the line, instead of bouncing back out of the goal and fooling the linesman.

Brilliant, right? Why the heck haven’t we though about that?

Because it’s a stupid idea.

For starters, the goalkeeper and his defenders won’t be able to stand safely around the goal-line. One wrong step from the hard turf to the soft sand-pit, and they could roll an ankle and get hurt. But that’s a bit of a long shot.

Still, the idea doesn’t solve the problem of a goalkeeper clawing a ball from mid-air before it hits the ground either. Mark’s solution only works for the specific predicament in which England found themselves in, when a ball is bouncing around the goal-line and the linesman can’t quite tell if it’s in.

And if the sand isn’t perfectly level on the goal line, it might actually stop a trickling shot from going all the way in. How is the referee supposed to rule on cases like that?

But these are the kind of dumb@$$ ideas we’re having to consider because of FIFA’s own stupidity and stubborness.

Their argument is always that the lower levels of football would not be able to afford video replay technology, but we’re not asking them to install laser guided sensors in the Sunday Leagues, are we?

Surely there can be an agreement to only have video replay technology used in top level tournaments, like say the friggin’ World Cup?

Then there’s that silly, sentimental plea for technology to stay out of the game because it takes away the drama that we all love football for.

But then what about the good football that results in goals that we all love? It was an injustice that Lampard’s wonderful effort did not stand, regardless of whether it would have made a difference in the game (which I don’t think it would’ve).

Football should be about football, and the drama should be just an added bonus of watching the game. If the drama comes at the expense of good football being played, like say a player feigning injury or a foul to get a fellow player sent off, then it should have no place in the game.

So Sepp Blatter, the call is yours: video technology, or sand-pit? Either way, you’re gonna have to do something about it.