Some of the most controversial refereeing decisions seem to involve goals scored when a player is offside, but surely it’s time we gave the officials a helping hand in ensuring fair play.

When other sports are able to make use of video replays and other systems, and TV broadcasters and managers have access to the technologies on the sidelines, why is football so far behind in the technology revolution?

One of the major reasons we have so many controversial offside decisions is because the linesman can’t look at two places at once. The ball is sometimes travelling more than 40 yards and it’s just impossible for both the linesman and referee to get it right every time.

Hawk-Eye is one of the main technologies used in cricket and tennis that shows a ball’s trajectory after it’s been hit, and in tennis they use it to determine where the ball ended up, while in cricket it also shows the future path of the ball in lbw decisions, although not used by umpires for decisions, it is used by the majority of broadcasters.

It’s not just offside decisions that should be determined by technology, goal-line decisions should also be included. It’s not going to be possible to implement at grassroots, but that's the same in any sport.

It is even being used in snooker. When a miss is called and balls have to be replaced, the referee gets a helping hand from an official with a TV monitor in putting certain balls back in their original positions. They also use technology to aid the viewer, showing you the player's eye view to see exactly what shot they're face with. It can also be used to show which part of the cue ball needs to be hit to fashion a shot, and can aid coaches and the TV audience understand more about what they’re watching.

The Hawk-Eye Football System is ready to be implemented in football if FIFA allow it after being extensively tested by Fulham and Reading. However, the sticking point could be whether it would be allowed by the International Football Association Board (IFAB), the lawmakers of the game.

They say that goals should be signalled within five seconds of the ball crossing the line - which the IFAB see as a potential problem - however, Hawk-Eye can reach a verdict in just half a second, meaning the referee can be notified direct from the computer monitoring the goal-line that the ball did indeed cross the line. He can then award the goal, or not, without being hassled unnecessarily from players and other club representatives. If they then have a problem, it’s with the technology, not the referee.

There is already technology available to show broadcasters whether a player was offside. Again, this can be proven in a matter of seconds and is something else that should be relayed to the referee in a similar way to a goal-line decision.

In both codes of rugby they go to a video referee to look at replays from all angles to determine if tries were scored where the officials can’t be sure. It just amazes me that football’s law-makers are so far behind the times. The argument of football being a simple game is irrelevant – the majority of sports are, and can be played by anyone, but when millions of pounds are riding on the outcome of a game, it’s maybe surprising that more clubs aren’t pushing for its introduction.

In my mind, technology could unequivocally determine whether or not the ball has crossed the line, whether a player is offside or not. It’s about time we gave the referees some help in being able to do their job properly.

They have one of the hardest jobs in the game and come under fire more and more because of the stakes involved. Really, you wouldn’t blame them for quitting, but if we use the technology to help them, it will be better for everyone concerned.