Why soccer goal line technology?

| Friday July 2, 2010 00:00

Technology in cricket, tennis and American Football has been successfully implemented, and in general the fans have welcomed it.

RequirementsThere are several options available for goal-line technology. The International Football Association Board (IFAB) wants to get it right before they implement a system. They have laid down the following four criteria that they want to see in a goal-line system:

*The technology should only apply to goal-line decisions.*The system must be 100 per cent accurate.*The signal sent to the referee must be instantaneous.*The signal is only communicated to the match officials.

Possible Options Smart BallA promising prospect has been a 'smartball' loaded with a computer chip, jointly developed by German companies Cairos Technologies and the Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Circuits, an engineering research and software development company, along with the Adidas athletic clothing and shoe company. The companies' technology uses a network of receivers around the field designed to track the ball's precise position in real time - including exactly when it has fully passed the goal-line. That information would be relayed in less than a second to a watch-like device worn by the referee.

Hawk-eyeThe system by the UK company Hawk-Eye has had very successful trials and is the front runner out of the systems in development. Hawk-Eye has already been used to make calls in tennis, and used as a TV tool in cricket. The Football version has been extensively trailed at Reading and has performed very well in the test environment. The Hawk Eye system uses three cameras focused on each goal-line, and each taking footage at 600 frames a second. Hawk-Eye is able to give a definitive decision on whether the ball has fully crossed the line, and relay this information in the form of an audible beep to the central referee within half a second. As the Premier League referees use headsets, the signal is easily sent to them. In other leagues, other methods such as through-a-watch can be used. The system is on target to be in place by the end of 2007. For anyone who has seen their team robbed of a win because no such system is in place, it will not be soon enough. (www.topendsports.com)