Sepp Blatter must have had his fingers and toes well crossed over the last few days. With the World Cup Finals now over, he can breath a sign of relief that the quarter, semis and final didn’t throw up any more controversial incidents like England’s disallowed goal.

His attitude towards the adoption of a digital technology are a classic case of an organisational figurehead refusing to keep up with the pace of the real world around him. Try as he may to preserve some strange personal ideal of what is suitable for the most important sports event on the planet, one thing is inevitable, in 2014 we will have goal line (and probably far more extensive replay) technology.

His concession to ‘look into it’ only highlights how inevitably futile it is to keep up such a battle against the technology tide. Soon it will seem even more bizarrely backward than it already does that South Africa’s high profile tournament, with all its 3D replays, swooping aerial camera angles and HD slow-mo showing every flying bead of sweat, could not get in the way of a good old fashioned refereeing mistake.

There can often be valid reasons to preserve ‘traditional’ ways of doing things. But football is already transformed by media technology on every other level. Not taking advantage of replays on the pitch when the rest of the world can see them is archaic and pointless. The professional game and its audiences demand it.

To be a good leader today, you need a very different mindset. Conservatism at the top may seem steady and ‘experienced’, but it’s an approach that’s way out of touch. The ability to remain constantly open to change is vital, because rapid change is the most potent, consistent force out there. Which successful organisation has stayed on top of its game by steadfastly refusing to adopt the latest technology?