Gadget Blog

NOW PREMIER LEAGUE AND INTERNATIONAL FOOTIE GETS TECHY

Once again, Germany has come out on top after a dispute over the goal line. This time it wasn’t a disallowed goal by England’s Frank Lampard that helped the Germans limp to a 4-1 win, but a decision by FIFA. Hawk-Eye, the British company bidding to provide goal-line tech for football’s big matches, has lost out to German challenger GoalControl4D.

The fight to be the official goal-line tech provider began in February 2013, when all four companies involved made presentations to international football’s governing body and demonstrated their systems at some of the
Brazilian World Cup stadiums. Reps saw how GoalRef and CAIROS used magnetic fields around the goal line and a chip inside the ball to determine whether it had crossed the line, while GoalControl and Hawk-Eye both used multiple cameras and 3D imaging to plot the location of it at any given moment.

Despite only receiving a licence to tender a month before the final rounds of testing, GoalControl was the winner, impressing FIFA with its tech, which employs seven high-speed cameras per goal-line.

The German system will now be trialled  at the Confederation’s Cup in Brazil in June, before getting the final stamp of approval. Hawk-Eye, meanwhile, is already used at Wimbledon and in cricket test matches,  and has now been selected by the English Premier League for the 2013-14 season.