In Technology, Culture, and the World Cup, Vigo discusses the impact technology has on us individually as well as a society. Specifically, Vigo argues that technological advancement has the power to negatively impact the culture of our societies therefore leaving us with mundane and boring experiences.

Vigo argues his views on technology advancement regarding the 1986 World Cup game, a historic match Argentina and England. In the game, Diego Maradona, an Argentine player, scored two of his greatest goals in history. Maradona scored his first goal of the game with his hand which is an illegal play. However, the referees didn’t notice this illegal play because of Maradona’s celebration with his teammates. This play went down in history as one of the most controversial goals because Maradona instructed his teammates to huddle around him, so the illegal play wouldn’t be noticed. However, the illegal play is noticeable in the photos of play, but the Argentinians celebrated this play as more than just a goal. Argentinians suffered at the hands of the British, so this goal represented justice for this mistreated country.

However, today this scenario would never exist because of the existing technology for sports games. FIFA introduced a new technology called VAR (video assistant referee) which is utilized for referees for “clear and obvious errors” which include errors regarding goals, penalties, red cards, and mistaken identity. Vigo argues the implementation of VAR in FIFA slows down games and takes the excitement away from soccer games. He believes that focus of games has shifted from strategy and sentiment to safety and rules. Vigo says he longs for “errors that left us with imperfect calls and the audiences roused from their seats,” because of the negative impact of VAR. Specifically, Vigo believes that the use of VAR and the technology advancement threatens the cultural aspects of the game by dulling down the game and measuring/monitoring each imperfection. As a result, the cultural implications of the game are slowly but surely coming blurred because of the emphasis on catching each mistake and not focusing on the game itself and its cultural history.

I understand Vigo’s perspective and the impact of technology has changed the sports culture and world. However, at the same time, I believe there needs to be some monitoring and measuring of game plays because it ensures a fair game for everyone involved. In high school, I played three sports and I loved when the referee let us play on even when there was a foul or penalty. On the other hand, when the call wasn’t in my favor, I wanted to stop the play because it was unfair if the other team/player benefitted. Therefore, I believe there is a tug-of-war between fairness and individualism. In terms of professional sports, I believe technology is necessary because sports are known to be violent so for the sake of injuries and safety it’s necessary. However, I don’t believe technology should dull down the sports we love as an individual and as a society.