Goalline technology will be used at the World Cup in Brazil next year and could be introduced in the Premier League as early as next season.
Fifa announced plans on Tuesday to introduce the technology to the game’s flagship tournament and invited tenders from interested providers, and the Premier League later revealed that it was “close to entering a formal tendering process” as well.
Fifa hope to confirm which of four systems they have chosen by “early April” so the technology could be used at this
summer’s Confederations Cup in Brazil.
The game’s world governing body trialled the camera-dependent ‘Hawk-Eye’ and magnetic field-based ‘GoalRef’ at December’s Club World Cup after granting both licenses for worldwide use.
It is understood ‘Cairos’, which is similar to GoalRef, has passed Fifa tests and a licensing agreement is likely to be signed by next week, when it is also expected to be announced whether an unnamed fourth system has passed the testing phase.
Fifa said in a statement yesterday: “Fifa has decided to use GLT at the Fifa Confederations Cup Brazil 2013 and 2014 Fifa World Cup Brazil.
“The aim is to use GLT in order to support the match officials and to install a system in all stadia, pending the successful installation, and pre-match referee tests.
“With different technologies on the market, Fifa has launched a tender today [Tuesday], setting out the technical requirements for the two forthcoming competitions in Brazil.
“The two GLT providers already licensed under Fifa’s Quality Programme for GLT, and other GLT providers currently in the licensing process (that must have passed all relevant tests as of today) are invited to submit tenders.
“Interested GLT companies will be invited to join an inspection visit to the Confederations Cup venues, currently scheduled for mid-March, with a final decision due to be confirmed in early April.”
Hawk-Eye and GoalRef both successfully recorded all 21 goals at last year’s Club World Cup and, crucially, did not throw up any false readings.
The pair appear to have a head start on their rivals but Fifa will also consider factors such as cost, installation time, and the amount of maintenance a system requires in making its final decision.
A Premier League spokesman said the English top flight would also choose a single provider. “We are close to the point where we will be tendering for that,” he said, confirming he hoped any system would be up and running for the start of next season.
The Football Association could piggy back on any Premier League deal to introduce technology for matches at Wembley, while the Football League confirmed it was still considering if — and to what extent — it would attempt to implement it in the lower leagues.
Of the four systems under consideration by Fifa, Hawk-Eye is English, while the other three are German (GoalRef also uses Danish technology).
It was the 2010 World Cup match between England and Germany that convinced Fifa president Sepp Blatter to perform a
U-turn on the use of goalline technology, having watched Frank Lampard denied a clear goal.
Uefa president Michel Platini remains a steadfast opponent, however.
Sourced from http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/
