Innovations for the future – Goal Line technology

Football has remained pretty much unchanged over the past many decades; at least the spirit that is. Technology has had its say at regular intervals though, with easy-to-dribble-and-flight-path-holding balls and climalite material for jerseys. Even the whistle has been remodelled to give it that distinctive shriek.

All of that and we still don’t know for sure if the ball crossed the goal line or not. That is exactly why FIFA was coerced by the right people, and a little bit of common sense in to giving such a technology a chance. The purists stick by their words of how football is quickly changing face and the greater science creeps in to the game, the further from life it’ll get. Now there’s certainly no arguing with the logic of the purists, but the majority would certainly prefer to know who scored rather than debate inconsequentially over it.

The tests initially began with nine systems out of which only two have survived thus far. The need for goal line technology was certainly always felt, more so with refereeing decisions defying logic. Initially dismissed as an option, goal line technology resurfaced strongly. During the 2010 World Cup, in England’s defeat by 4 goals to 1 by Germany, Frank Lampard’s blinder caught the underside of the post and bounced out. Replays suggested it had crossed the goal line but the assistant referee thought otherwise. Promptly, Mr. Sepp Blatter announced a revisit to the path-breaking technology. Similarly, in the 2012 FA Cup semi-finals, when Chelsea were awarded a goal that never actually happened against Tottenham, a furore was biding its time and science had to step in very soon. Even during the FA Cup final, Andy Carroll’s header from close range may or may not have made it past the line, but that is a mystery for another day.

For any changes to the format or with thelaws of football, the International Football Association Board(IFAB) must approve of it first. Six votes are required to pass a motion and FIFA holds four votes and each of the world’s first four football associations carries one vote. These are England’s Football Association, the Scottish Football Association, the Football Association of Wales and the Irish Football Association.

In July 2011, testing began and nine systems took part. They boiled down to the Hawk-eye and the GoalRef. The Hawk Eye is the same technology used in cricket as well as tennis, which uses high speed video cameras around the site of play to recreate a graphic of the ball and its flight path. The software can lock on to the ball even when 75% of the ball is not visible to the cameras.

GoalRef, developed by Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Circuits, Germany, came up with a radio based solution which instantaneously decides a goal. By producing a low magnetic field around the goal, this technology creates a curtain before the goal. The moment a ball crosses in to it completely, the result is given immediately.

Criticism flows quick and thick for this pioneering technology, with the first point always revolving around the depreciation of the ‘human’ in the sport. Errors are not celebrated, but to err is to be human, and that fact is a universal truth. Furthermore, sensible questions regarding the standardization of such technology stay unanswered, given the lower economic strata of lower leagues. Again, this move isn’t exactly a change in the laws of the game, but a simple comprehensive decider as to whether the ball crossed the line or not. Hopefully, the concerned authorities will take note and fast track the testing sessions so as to maybe let us have a taste of the technology in the Euro 2012. That may be a little too optimistic, but we can always toe the line a little.