Goal Line Technology in Football is inevitable

Hawk-Eye and Goal-Ref are the two technology solutions that have been selected to go into further testing. The Hawk-Eye camera based system is actually being tested during the non-league Hampshire Senior Cup Final between Eastleigh FC and AFC Totton on 16 May which will be the first ever football match to implement goal-line technology. Unfortunately the findings will not be available to the match officials so it won’t have any bearing on the game. Lampard's disallowed goal at last World Cup vs. Germany Hawk-Eye will involve placing 12 cameras at various positions around the ground to track the ball and give instant feedback to the referee as to whether the ball crosses the line. This is the same system used in cricket and tennis. Goal-Ref will place a computer chip in the ball with sensors in the goal posts that instantly tells the referee if the ball crosses the line. The feedback will potentially be transmitted to the referee’s watch so the decision will be instant. IFAB are planning to reconvene and review the testing on the 2nd July in Kiev meaning that the technology will be approved in time for the next premier league season, although the sceptic in me suggests that it will be actually implemented much later. There are other factors to take into consideration such as the costs involved in implementing it for all stadiums in all leagues. Will the lower league teams be able to afford the technology and, if they can’t, how will that effect competitions like the FA Cup.