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Goal-Line Tech

April 11, 2013 by · Comments Off on Goal-Line Tech 

Goal-Line Tech, The first day of the 2013-14 Premier League season will be the start of a new era after clubs voted to use Hawk-Eye’s goalline technology system and ratified new financial controls intended to curb wage inflation.

The British-based company Hawk-Eye, which rose to prominence with its involvement in tennis and cricket before being acquired by Sony, is understood to have been chosen over the German firm GoalControl to provide the camera-based technology, which instantly relays to the referee whether a goal has been scored. It will be installed at all 20 Premier League grounds during the close season, paid for out of central Premier League funds.

Goalline technology was finally ratified by the International FA board this year after a long debate and a campaign led by the English FA. The Frank Lampard “ghost goal” against Germany at the South Africa World Cup in 2010 convinced Fifa’s president, Sepp Blatter, to change his mind, swinging the argument for those in favour.

Although the technology will be used in every Premier League fixture, it will have to be switched off for Champions League and Europa League ties because Uefa, whose president Michel Platini is a longstanding opponent of the use of technology, has not ratified its use.

The Premier League first began exploring the possibility of using goalline technology in 2006 and its chief executive, Richard Scudamore, has been a longstanding proponent.

“Football is fundamentally a simple game; whichever side scores most goals wins. So, when one is scored, or indeed not scored, and we have the ability through technology to definitively know whether the ball crossed the line we should absolutely use it,” he said on Thursday.

“Principally it is about getting it right. Fans, players and managers exhort, strain and stress respectively for their teams to score or prevent goals being scored, so we as administrators should do all that we can to ensure the correct decisions are being made.”

The England manager, Roy Hodgson, also welcomed the introduction of the technology, which will also be used by Fifa in the 2014 World Cup and by the Football Association at Wembley, as “momentous”.

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