By Andrew Warshaw
October 20 - After decades of fierce debate, goal-line technology moved a vital step forward today when football’s lawmakers finally gave the green light to re-consider the issue.
But they stressed any system must confirm within one second whether the ball has crossed the line.
The decision by the interim business meeting of the International FA Board (IFAB) – made up of FIFA and the four British home associations - came just seven months after the same body ruled out any chance of technology being introduced.
The change of heart came after a dramatic U-turn by FIFA president Sepp Blatter in the wake of Frank Lampard’s infamous disallowed goal for England against Germany during the World Cup which prompted an international outcry and heaped pressure on FIFA to change the rules.
Laying out the timescale for the possible introduction of the game’s most debated global issue, the IFAB said independent companies will now be appointed to test the various systems, 13 of which have so far been presented to FIFA – all of them either camera-based such as Hawkeye used in cricket and tennis, or sensor-based such as a micro-chip inside the ball.
“The technology would apply solely to the goal-line, and only to determine whether a goal has been scored or not,” an IFAB statement said, ruling out the use of video technology for any other contentious decisions.
“The system must be accurate – the indication of whether a goal has been scored must be immediate and automatically confirmed within one second.
“The indication of whether a goal has been scored will only be communicated to the match officials.”
A deadline of the end of November has been set for any company which hasn’t done so already to make a first presentation to FIFA.
A testing period will then take place to determine the accuracy of each system and this will be reported back to the IFAB’s main annual meeting in March next year.
Only then could any new rule be implemented, with July 2011 the likely earliest possible starting date in time for next season.
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