England's controversial third goal scored by Geoff Hurst (not shown) in the 1996 World Cup final would have been over-turned by instant replay. (Associated Press file photo)

Very few issues divide fans, players and managers in the soccer world like the use of instant video replay.

The thorny subject was raised, yet again, following this past weekend's contentious clash in Italy between Serie A leaders Inter Milan and Parma.

Inter trailed 2-1 late in the contest when the referee called Parma defender Fernando Couto for handling the ball inside the penalty area. Cuoto received a red card and was expelled from the game, as Inter's Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored from the ensuing spot kick to tie the game.

Ibrahimovic went on to score another goal in injury time to give Inter a dramatic, come-from-behind victory, but video replays of the Cuoto incident clearly showed the ball slightly grazed the defender's arm after it first hit his head, raising the question as to whether or not he intentionally handled the ball.

Unlike the NFL or NHL, soccer does not use instant replay to review debatable calls made by the referee, so Parma went home empty-handed after it gave Inter its toughest game of the season.

Afterwards, Parma coach Mimmo Di Carlo seethed with anger, saying, "as usual, Inter needed help to win."

"We prepared this game well and I knew the players were in good shape. Unfortunately, incidents tend to go in favour of the big clubs and the evidence is clear," added Di Carlo, a not so subtle hint that video replay of the incident showed the referee got it wrong.

In general, Italians have never heard a conspiracy theory they didn't like and Di Carlo's words are nothing more than sour grapes, but there are a growing number of people in the game who continue to voice their opinion that the introduction of video replay could go a long way to ensuring that victories earned on the field are merited.

Supporters of video replay point out that it's already being used in soccer. Officials often look at the video of games long after they are over and overturn a referee's decision to hand out a controversial yellow or red card to a player. The next logical step, it would seem, is to avail referees of video replay technology so they can get the call right the first time on the field of play.

Doing so comes at a grave cost, however, as it would rob soccer of its greatest quality: simplicity.

Unlike other sports that are bogged down with a litany of convoluted rules and semantic nuance, soccer is a simple game - you're not allowed to touch the ball with your hands (unless you're a goalkeeper) and you can use any part of your body to score a goal.

They call soccer the beautiful game because of its ballet-like grace and intrinsic beauty. For 90 minutes, fans are taken on an emotional roller coaster - soaring to great heights when their team scores off a brilliantly executed set piece, plundering to depressing lows when the opponent scores on the counter-attack against the run of play.

Video replay would only disrupt soccer's natural, free-flowing rhythm, slowing down the game to a crawl, and in some cases stopping it dead in its tracks.

Supporters of instant replay argue it should only be used for controversial calls made in the penalty area, but once a linesman misses an offside outside the box that leads to a goal, you just know they'll be demanding it be used all over the field. How soon after that will referees be blowing their whistle and stopping the game so they can jog over to the sideline and watch the video replay to ensure they awarded the correct team a throw in?

Referees, God bless them, are only human and they make errors, but mistakes are a part of the game. The sport's history is littered with thousands of controversial moments, moments that meant games could have turned out differently if the referee at the time had the benefit of video replay.

For instance, Geoff Hurst's winning goal for England against West Germany in extra time of the 1966 World Cup final, which clearly did not cross the goal-line, would not have stood. With the goal disallowed, would Franz Beckenbauer and the Germans have quickly hit back at England and carved out a victory, stunning the English crowd packed inside venerable Wembley Stadium into silence?

Likewise, Maradona's "Hand of God" goal against England in the quarter-finals of the 1986 World Cup in Mexico would not have counted. Would Argentina still have gone on to win the game and the World Cup?

We'll never know for sure because in both cases the referee would have made the right call if he had the use of instant replay, but would soccer be any richer, having been deprived of two of the game's seminal moments that fans still argue about to this very day?

Soccer remains one of the few sports untainted by technology. It should not bow at the alter of perfection by introducing instant replay. Instead, it should be proud of its imperfections.

John F. Molinaro is a reporter for CBCSports.ca whose chief love is international soccer. Contact John here.