Football Joins 21st Century: Premiership Set For Goal-Line Technology (So No More Blaming The Ref!)

Goal-line technology is set to be approved and introduced to the Barclays Premier League and beyond.

After a long list of controversies – including Frank Lampard’s ‘goal’ against Germany at the 2010 World Cup – the game is ready for change.

The International FA Board (IFAB) is voting on giving the go-ahead to both the Hawk-Eye and the GoalRef systems today.

This is the green light to the Premier League and Football Association introducing the technology into their competitions.

A comprehensive series of tests have been carried out on the systems by Swiss scientists. Both Hawk-Eye and GoalRef are deemed to have passed the tests satisfactorily.

Chelsea manager Roberto di Matteo said a system was needed as soon as possible.

Di Matteo said: ‘We see every season, every big tournament, we need it because there are some crucial moments within those games where, with a bit of technology, you could find the right solution.’

There will still be a delay before either system can be used in competitive football, however – each will need to be licensed, installed and then tested in every venue to make sure it is working properly.

The IFAB, who are meeting in Zurich, also insist the technology is used only as an aid to referees to make a decision, rather than being the deciding factor in whether the ball has crossed the line.

It means referees can still decide not to award a goal based on what they see even if the systems are indicating the ball has crossed the line.

FIFA’s president Sepp Blatter is a firm supporter of goal-line technology, having changed his mind after Lampard’s disallowed goal.

The clamour increased last month after Ukraine’s disallowed goal against England and has also served to sweep aside any lingering doubts over the systems’ margins of error.

However, FIFA are insistent that, initially at least, the technology’s signal of a goal should only be transmitted to the match officials and not to the crowd or TV audience.

The IFAB is made up of FIFA, who have four votes, and the four home nations, who have one vote each. Any law change needs at least six votes.

The body will also consider whether the UEFA experiment with extra officials has been a success and should be continued, but UEFA president Michel Platini will not be going to Zurich to argue the case in person.

The England v Ukraine incident, which saw John Terry hook the ball back into play when it was already across the line, could hardly have fallen worse for Platini.

No goal was awarded despite the extra official being no more than 10 yards away and staring straight along the line.

That suited Blatter perfectly, who opposes the extra two officials on the grounds that in many countries there are not a sufficient number of referees.

The tests on the technology were carried out by the EMPA – the Swiss Federal Laboratory for Materials Science and Technology – and the results discussed by IFAB members at a meeting earlier this month.

The Hawk-Eye system – developed by a British company now owned by Sony – is based on cameras and GoalRef, a Danish-German development, uses magnetic fields.

Posted by Editor on July 5, 2012. Filed under NEWS. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry