The International Football Association Board (IFAB) has unanimously approved the implementation of goal-line technology (GLT).
GLT 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.
A statement from Fifa said: “Following the conclusion of a nine-month test process that began in August 2011, led by EMPA (Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology), the IFAB unanimously decided to approve, in principle, both companies that took part in Test Phase 2: GoalRef and Hawk-Eye.
“This approval is subject to a final installation test at each stadium before the systems can be used in 'real' football matches, in accordance with the Fifa Quality Programme for GLT.”
The first round of testing saw eight available GLT systems evaluated by EMPA between November and December 2011. The GoalRef and Hawk-Eye solutions were approved for the second phase of testing in March, and were subsequently tested further between May and the beginning of June.
Both systems were tested with the aim of rigorously assessing the reliability and accuracy of each system and determining how robust the technology is. Hawk-Eye's system uses optical recognition with cameras, while GoalRef utilises a magnetic field with a special ball to identify a goal situation.
The IFAB has stressed that technology will only be used for the goal-line, and no other aspects of the game will be influenced. The introduction of goal-line technology was previously rejected by Fifa due to high costs and potential interruptions to the flow of the game. However, the use of goal-line technology was revisited after a series of controversial refereeing decisions during the 2010 World Cup.
Decisive moment
Speaking about the decision, Fifa president Sepp Blatter said: “When it comes to high-level competition, and the decisive moment of a competition, you have to use technology if it is available. If you don't, then something is wrong. I have changed my attitude toward technology, because of the situation in SA in 2010 (when England's Frank Lampard scored against Germany, but the goal was not given).”
“It's not a dangerous development, as long as it remains focused on goal-line technology. I don't want technology anywhere else. I want football to maintain its human face; this will be my goal as long as I am the president of Fifa. We will still have to see how it works. It is only to help the referee, we must remember that.”
Fifa has said it will introduce GLT at the seven-team Club World Cup, in Japan, in December, and there are plans to use it in Brazil at the 2013 Confederations Cup and 2014 World Cup. The English Premier League will also reportedly adopt GLT during the next season. Implementation of the technology is said to cost up to $250 000 per stadium.
While it is now IFAB-approved in principle, the implementation of GLT is not binding on league or competition organisers - who remain free to choose and pay for the technology themselves. Further information on GLT and its implementation can be found on the Fifa Web site.
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