Goal-line technology

[Lineker]

Goal-line technology could be used as early as next season in the Premier League, according to the Football Association.

The general secretary of the FA, Alex Horne, told the BBC that if one or more of the systems currently being tested works then the laws governing football are likely to change.

"I think goal-line technology would be a huge boost for the game," said Horne.

"For years we've thought this was a good addition to referees' armoury."

Nine systems are currently under review by an independent testing authority employed by Fifa. A final decision is expected to be made in July 2012.

Horne recently indicated he believed the 2012-13 season would come too soon to see goal-line technology adopted.

But his comments now indicate that a fundamental change to football's rules could be implemented by the start of next season.

"It's possible we could see [goal-line technology] in the Premier League as early as 2012-13," he said.

"It's easy to make mistakes and we've all seen examples where the referee and assistant referee can't see if a ball has crossed the line or not.

"We need to support them in decision-making."

Fifa were previously opposed to the use of technology in football, preferring that decisions remained in the hands of match officials.

That opinion changed following England's game against Germany in the 2010 South Africa World Cup when Frank Lampard's shot on goal was wrongly adjudged not to have crossed the line.

Football's law-making body, the International Football Association Board, is due to assess the results of the current testing phase in March at a meeting in London.

Companies that have matched the strict criteria laid down by Fifa will then be invited to a second phase of testing which will take place between March and June 2012.

IFAB is then due to meet again in July 2012 when a decision on whether to allow goal-line technology will be made using the data from both test phases.

Fifa criteria

1. The technology applies solely to the goal-line and only to determine whether a goal has been scored or not.

2. The system must be accurate.

3. The indication of whether a goal has been scored must be immediate and automatically confirmed within one second.

4. The indication of whether a goal has been scored will only be communicated to the match officials (via the referee's watch, by vibration and visual signal).

IFAB is composed of the the FA, Irish FA, Welsh FA and Scottish FA - who all receive one vote.

Fifa, who act on behalf of the rest of the world, have four votes.

IFAB decisions must be approved by three-quarters of its members, which means Fifa's approval is necessary for any change to the law.

With that deadline of July 2012, Horne did admit it could take too long for everything to be fully tested.

He added: "Whether there is enough time for the technology to be bought, paid for and put into any league or competition for next season, I'm not sure.

"It would be really tight - but it might be possible for next season."

Other sports have already embraced technology with the Winchester-based company Hawk-Eye providing tennis players with the ability to challenge line calls.

They are now seeking to extend their expertise to football and their goal-line system was assessed on Tuesday with all nine competing companies due to be analysed before the end of the year.

The Adidas-backed firm Cairos, whose system utilises an electronic sensor inside the match ball and electromagnetic strips buried under the goal and penalty area lines, are also in contention.

Fifa's testers will travel to League One side Rochdale on Thursday to test "Goalminder", the brainchild of inventors Harry Barnes and David Parden.

Barnes and Parden, both Bolton Wanderers fans, were outraged when a Gerry Taggart goal for their team was disallowed in 1997 and the club went on to be relegated.

Together they patented a system after experimenting with drain pipes and CCTV cameras in Parden's garage.

Fourteen years later their system - which will retail initially at around £100,000 for a set of two goalposts - uses up to 24 high-definition cameras embedded inside the goalposts.

They claim that the cameras can detect almost instantly if a ball has crossed the line. The information collected by the cameras is then verified by a computer using three-dimensional imaging software located next to the pitch.

If a goal has been scored, an encrypted signal is sent to the referee's wrist watch which triggers a vibration and a visual notice.

Crucially the entire process takes less than a second, ensuring there is no delay to the game.

With the potential for commercial revenues streaming from their ability to show broadcasters high definition images of goal-line incidents the founders hope Fifa will see the other benefits of their design.

1047 FOOTBALL: Fifa are set to trial goal-line technology at League One club Rochdale's Spotland ground on Thursday. The system under scrutiny is called 'Goalminder'.

With today's news, I was wondering on what EWB's stance on GL technology was. Virtually every other sport has adopted modern advances in various guises such as Hawkeye, TV referees, a referal system, and so on. But football, after dragging its heels for so long, has apparently recognised the need to a technology.

I am for it. With the technologies available, there is for me absolutely no reason whatsoever so it not to be used to aid our referees make the correct and fair decision. I don't think that it needs to brought in for fouls or offside decisions or anything like that, but I do like the sound of the 'Goalminder' system mentioned in the article. Perhaps the FA could provide grants for clubs who may not have £100k laying around? There are always going to be issues in implementing such major changes like these - see the introduction of mandatory all-seater stadia - but nothing that can't be worked out.

[MDK]

Meh, my main gripe with it is that it takes a bit of the drama away from a game. I understand why people want it, especially the big clubs because a lot of money can be missed out on because of 'that goal that wasn't', costing them a place in the CL/WC/etc.

Of course, if it means Orient get promoted then I'm all for it

[Lineker]

Games are and always will be dramatic - but I just think that it's inexcusible for goals like Pedro Mendes vs. Man Utd and Frank Lampard vs. Germany to not be given due to human error when instantaneously the referee can be given confirmation as to whether it's a goal or not.

This is no slight on the referees and linesmen - the majority of them do a very hard and decent job. But at the end of the day they are only human and humans are prone to human error every now and then. Some more than others

[Gazz]

As long as it is 95-100% accurate and some sort of fund is set up to provide clubs with the technology for free down to at least League Two, then I see no problems.

[MDK]

What about The Conference? And the early rounds of the FA Cup?

[Gazz]

What about The Conference? And the early rounds of the FA Cup?

It's a cost issue, to kit out all league clubs would cost probably £10m. Till the technology gets a lot cheaper there has to be a cutoff point.

[Colly]

What about The Conference? And the early rounds of the FA Cup?

Depends on cost. The idea that refereeing is the same all the way down the pyramid vanished as soon as fourth officials and referee headsets started appearing, unless your local pub games got some walkie talkies?

[brenchill]

What about the Pub Leagues?

[Thrilla]

Fucking Hell, my pub team would be lucky to have an FA accredited referee for two games a season, nevermind goalmouth technology.

[Cactus Drags]

Definitely needed. All the fuckers who whine that human error is part of the game and all that are the first ones off their chairs screaming at the TV when the call's gotten wrong.

[Dingle]

Definitely needed. All the fuckers who whine that human error is part of the game and all that are the first ones off their chairs screaming at the TV when the call's gotten wrong.

LAMPARD FUCKIN' SCORED THOUGH! WE WOULD HAVE TOTALLY WON!

I think it's a great idea to implement in the top leagues around the world. Even if it only started with Champs League and international tournaments, although I heartily welcome it to the Premier League (Hopefully the championship gets it, but I could live without it there or in any lower leagues).

Edited November 25, 2011 by Devil In Jouzy City

[Gazz]

I can't wait for the first 'well, it should have counted but Ernie the groundsman forgot to plug the goalposts back in after he'd finished mowing the penalty area'.

[Lineker]

He fell upon tough times after leaving Cobresol

[gunnar hendershow]

The ball moves too fast at times to judge whether it's crossed the line by any human, it's all guesswork at a certain point. This is technology that should be implemented in soccer, I'd hate to see a World Cup in 2014 decided by the inability of a referee to see the ball go over the line.

And I fail to see how after just a few years this technology would cost too much to implement through all levels. Obviously start at the top, where the most money is, and then work your way down.

[MDK]

I stopped reading when you said soccer

[gunnar hendershow]

I stopped reading when you said soccer

Your country's damn fault for telling us that's what we should call it.

[Lineker]

Only two companies will proceed to the second phase of goal-line technology testing following a decision by The International Football Association (Ifab).

Goalref and British-based Hawkeye will now undergo further examination in "multiple scenarios" between March and June to test their accuracy in simulated match conditions.

The game's law-makers met in Surrey this weekend to discuss the independent test results of eight systems and map out the next stages of goal-line technology's potential introduction.

The Swiss standards institute EMPA conducted the tests between September and December last year.

The Adidas-backed Cairos system - which involved the use of a microchip inserted into the ball - has failed to pass phase one of the strict conditions established by Fifa.

The Rochdale company Goalminder has also failed.

A final decision will be made on adopting goal-line technology in a specially convened Ifab meeting in Kiev on 2 July.

Provided one or more pass phase two, the General Secretary of the Football Association, Alex Horne, said: "We expect to pass goal-line technology into the laws of the game."

The Ifab have also declared goals scored from uncontested drop balls will not stand and have agreed in principle that the ban on hijabs being used while playing football can be overturned.

Safety tests will be conducted on headscarves, with a decision on their legality also expected at the meeting in Ukraine.

The decision to push ahead with technology came after Fifa, football's world governing body, dropped its long-standing opposition to its introduction in 2010 following Frank Lampard's controversial disallowed goal against Germany.

In order to pass the first phase of tests, each of the eight companies had to demonstrate that their technology adhered to benchmarks set by Fifa.

These include notification of a goal being sent to the referee's watch within one second of the ball crossing the line and strict standards on accuracy.

The tests between March and June will incorporate a practical examination of how each system reacts in simulated match situations.

Fifa is keen to see how the proposed technology fares with such factors as poor weather conditions, muddy and artificial pitches, games played under floodlights and players moving or standing close to the goal-posts.

BBC Sport has learnt that a licensing system for any approved technology could be introduced at that stage to ensure quality control and to prevent counterfeit systems being sold to football federations seeking to introduce goal-line technology.

If one or more systems receive final approval in July, it leaves open the possibility that goal-line technology could be introduced as early as August 2012 in competitions such as the Premier League.

Speaking in November last year Horne told BBC Sport that he would welcome such a move.

"Goal-line technology would be a huge boost for the game," he said.

"For years, we've thought this was a good addition to referees' armoury."

"It's possible we could see it in the Premier League as early as 2012-13."

Another scenario could see goal-line technology introduced in less high-profile competitions or Fifa regulated youth tournaments with the aim to introduce it widely in time for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.

Fifa dropped its long-standing opposition to the use of technology after Frank Lampard was wrongly judged not to have scored for England against Germany in the second round of the World Cup in South Africa in June 2010, after his shot hit the bar and bounced down more than a foot over the line.

Fifa president Sepp Blatter apologised to the Football Association after the incident.

"It is obvious after the experiences at the 2010 World Cup it would be a nonsense not to reopen the file on goal-line technology," said Blatter.

But Uefa president Michel Platini is opposed to its introduction believing that it is wrong to implement systems due to what he sees as the infrequency of goal-line incidents within games.

He remains in favour of using additional assistant referees - currently being trialled in the Champions League and Europa League.

Any rule change by Ifab requires a 75% majority vote.

The FA, the Scottish FA, the FA of Wales and the Irish FA all receive one vote each, with Fifa, who act as representatives for the world's other football associations, holding four.

Six votes are therefore required to change any law, meaning that Fifa's support is necessary for any proposed amendment.

Football's lawmakers have revealed they will go ahead with final tests on two goal-line technology systems set to revolutionise the game.

The International FA Board (IFAB) will now run final tests on the systems - one by British company Hawk-Eye and the other developed by German firm GoalRef - ahead of a final decision in July.

Hawk-Eye is a camera-based system used in other sports while GoalRef uses a magnetic field with a special ball to identify a goal situation.

The second test phase will take place between now and June and ensure each system is robust enough to remain accurate in a match situation.

FA general secretary Alex Horne told a press conference in Bagshot, Surrey: "It's an important step forward for us but it is important that we do test it for failure.

"It must be accurate otherwise it won't be worth having."

Horne admitted it was "very unlikely" that any systems could be in place in the Premier League for the start of next season.

FIFA president Sepp Blatter has already expressed his excitement at the developments and is keen to avoid a repeat of the incident at the 2010 World Cup, when Frank Lampard had a legal goal disallowed for England against Germany.

Blatter said via Twitter: "Exciting news that 2 goal-line technology companies meet criteria - now for further testing and decision."

He added: "If technology works we will use it in 2014 to avoid situations like the Lampard goal."

[Lineker]

Goal-line technology is be used in a football match for the first time.

The Hampshire Senior Cup Final between Eastleigh FC and AFC Totton on 16 May will test Hawk-Eye's camera-based system.

Calls for goal-line technology have increased with dubious decisions marring a number of high profile games.

Chelsea's Juan Mata was awarded a goal that had not crossed the line in his side's 5-1 FA Cup semi-final win over Tottenham on 15 April.

And QPR defender Clint Hill's header was clawed back into play via the crossbar from two feet behind the line by Bolton goalkeeper Adam Bogdan during the London club's 2-1 defeat at the Reebok Stadium on 10 March.

Southampton's St Mary's Stadium is the venue for the non-league final in which Hawk-Eye will be used as Fifa continues its testing programme into the system's viability.

Fifa president Sepp Blatter recently revealed that at least two goal-line technology systems have proved themselves fast and accurate.

"There are now systems that combine precision, speed and are uncomplicated," said Blatter in December.

In March, football's law-makers the International Football Association Board (IFAB) approved two companies - Hawk-Eye and GoalRef - to take part in the second phase of Goal Line Technology (GLT) testing.

Between May 10 and the beginning of June, EMPA (Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology) will rigorously assess the reliability and accuracy of each system, as well as how robust the technology is.

The German-Danish-owned GoalRef will be tested in two separate matches likely to be in the Danish Superligaen or possibly when Denmark play Australia in a pre-Euro 2012 friendly on 2 June at Copenhagen's Parken Stadion.

During the test matches only Fifa's independent testing agency will have access to the system readings and the system will not be available to the match officials.

Refereeing decisions will therefore be unaffected.

Approval for goal-line technology could arrive when IFAB reconvenes in Kiev on 2 July to analyse the second phase test results.

Subject to one or both systems passing the tests the expectation is that the technology will become available to any league or competition wishing to utilise it.

Field tests. These will take place in a football stadium chosen by the technology system provider. Testers will conduct a greater volume of shots on an empty goal, shots against an impact wall, shots on a goalkeeper, and the sled test, also used on Phase 1 testing, where a ball is placed on a sledge and moved along the goal-line.

Training sessions . A series of simulated scenarios on the field using players will assess the systems with an increased number of players in and around the goalmouth.

Laboratory tests. Both systems will be tested against a variety of conditions. This will include simulating different climatic conditions (including rain, smoke/fog and heat/humidity), testing against the impact of proximity to mobile phone transmitters or other magnetic field distortions (eg TV cameras, LED advertising boards) and tests on the watches which would be worn by the match officials.

Real 'live' matches . To ensure that every eventuality has been considered in the two testing phases, each company is also required to have its system tested in two separate 'live' matches.