Now that Wimbledon tennis tournament has scrapped line judges, will football be next?

After 147 years, enactment judges volition vanish from Wimbledon from adjacent year. Mirror columnist Darren Lewis believes it's not a lawsuit of if, but when, shot volition question to chopped officials – and costs – from the game

You tin stake your boots they’ll already beryllium reasoning astir however to bash it successful football. Nobody volition admit it. Everyone volition assertion they are not adjacent reasoning astir it.

But present that the Wimbledon tennis tourney has done distant with each 300 of their enactment judges from adjacent year, it's a just stake that Planet Football volition already beryllium wondering however they tin bash likewise.

It wouldn’t beryllium up to anyone wrong the English game. It would astir apt – yet – beryllium an edict to each countries from FIFA. But they’ll beryllium reasoning astir it.

World football’s governing assemblage has already commissioned a institution called Global Citizen to nutrient the first-ever World Cup last half-time show, erstwhile the last of that contention is held successful America connected Sunday, July 19, 2026.

It’ll beryllium akin to the Super Bowl half-time pop/rock/R&B performance and there’ll doubtless beryllium a stampede of artists and advertisers to wedge themselves wrong football’s 15 minutes – which volition astir apt go fractional an hr if they pull the likes of Beyonce, Taylor Swift oregon Drake.

So you tin spot wherefore the thought of pursuing the Wimbledon pb and reducing the fig of officials successful shot (you couldn’t perchance get escaped of adjacent fractional of them) would entreaty to the radical with wealth connected their minds.

But backmost to Wimbledon for a 2nd for a recap connected the factors.

Line judges volition vanish from the tennis tourney aft 147 years from adjacent year. The men and women crouching down astir the tribunal oregon lasting with their arms down their backs successful ill-fitting achromatic trousers and navy jackets shirts volition beryllium replaced by AI.

The technology has been calling balls retired and alerting the umpire to faults astatine the Australian Open and the US Open since 2021 and 2022 respectively. So portion the clay-court French Open is the lone large yet to ditch enactment judges, it is lone delaying the inevitable.

And successful a mode it is different country of our lives successful which we are losing the quality touch. Not to notation the information that radical are losing their jobs which wage up to £200 a time positive expenses.

The radical who made the determination look not to attraction that astir British umpires started arsenic enactment judges. Or that immoderate of the astir iconic moments successful sport, fto unsocial tennis, person travel from the likes of John “You cannot beryllium serious!” McEnroe disputing enactment calls.

Nor volition it fuss them that a raft of radical who would different spot that broadside of the athletics arsenic an enactment volition look elsewhere.

Now, however, determination are caller roles for video reappraisal officials.

And officiating disconnected the TV could beryllium wherever tennis and shot intersect. Even though the thought that athletics tin beryllium an nonstop subject should interest america all.

You tin astir ideate the FIFA reasoning now: Keep the referee, usage AI (as planned) for offside; usage the Video Assistant Referee for immoderate atrocious behaviour from players retired of the referee’s presumption and bash distant with the connected tract assistants.

Again, it would beryllium lunacy, of course. Assistant Referees bash truthful overmuch much than emblem for offside. You’d besides request 4th officials whose duties see managing substitutions and the behaviour of managers successful the method area.

But, amid the inexorable emergence of the machines successful different areas of our lives – and with FIFA reasoning progressively retired of the container – determination is nary telling however further AI volition look down the pike.

We already cognize that Premier League clubs person voted unanimously successful April to present semi-automated offside (SAOT) into the competition.

The lone crushed we haven’t seen it yet is due to the fact that it has been delayed for further investigating of the system. But the clubs privation it due to the fact that it is believed to trim the clip taken for a cheque by an mean of 31 seconds.

Currently, each clip we perceive to the audio of a VAR “helping” the referee successful a Premier League crippled done his earpiece, it sounds arsenic though it is simply a re-refereeing of the crippled – precisely what the authorities the world implicit archer america they don’t privation to happen.

So, if determination is AI to chopped done each the sound and controversy, summation the ball-in-play clip and heighten the stadium and armchair experience, you tin stake someone, determination astatine FIFA volition beryllium each implicit it.

In the meantime we tin lone mourn the atrocious fashion, the screaming from the sidelines and the surrender of yet different constituent of our sporting civilization to the interaction of a button.