No goal-line tech for World Cup

No goal-line tech for World Cup

There will be no use of goal-line technology during the World Cup, says IFAB.

The International Football Association Board (IFAB) has ruled out the use of goal-line technology during the upcoming 2010 Fifa Soccer World Cup, which will kick off in SA later this year.

 

This is according to a Fifa statement, which says: “Concerning goal-line technology, the board concluded that goal-line technology would not be pursued.”

Goal-line technology is a proposed technology that signals the referee when the ball has crossed the goal-line, indicating whether a goal has been scored or not.

The decision was reached after watching presentations of two systems.

The Cairos goal-line system involves microchips in the ball that activate a message being sent to a watch the referee wears when the ball crosses the line.

Hawk-Eye is commonly used in tennis and cricket, and every image is processed by a bank of computers in real-time. This data is then sent to a central computer, which combines all the information to determine whether the ball has crossed the line. This information can be communicated to a watch or an earpiece, as required.

Expensive, disruptive

Fifa says the use of goal-line technology was rejected because of high costs and potential interruptions in the flow of games. “The application of modern technologies can be very costly and, therefore, not applicable on a global level,” the organisation says.

According to Fifa, soccer fans and most team head coaches began to push for the implementation of the technology on the field, following the controversial decisions taken by referees. Fifa has been under increasing pressure to use some form of technology to eliminate mistakes, which are highlighted by TV replays.

“No matter which technology is applied, at the end of the day a decision will have to be taken by a human being,” Fifa says.

However, IFAB may consider using an extra official behind each goal – a system which has been trialled this season in the Europa League.

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