UEFA not ready to adopt goal-line technology

UEFA’s stance is a re-iteration of its president Michel Platini’s long-standing argument against the adoption of technology. Platini had recently said that the occurrence of goal-line incidents were rare and that the use of technology ‘won’t stop’ with such incidents and would be asked to be extended to the more frequent off-side decisions too.

FIFA and the International Football Association Board (IFAB),in charge of framing and ratifying laws of the game,had approved the use of GLT at a meeting in Zurich on July 5. The FIFA and IFAB also conceded they cannot force any association in the world to deploy GLT. A FIFA spokesman said in an email that,“FIFA and IFAB will not force its will on any member association,league or cup competition.”

With FIFA and IFAB’s ratification,GLT is set to be used as early as in December,when the FIFA Club World Cup kicks off. However,with UEFA’s disapproval,GLT may not be used in Champions League and Europa League games at the club level and the European Championships,in the near future.

UEFA’s line is that while it is not in favour of GLT,the body has introduced additional assistant referees who are positioned by the goal line,a move which was also approved by FIFA and IFAB in its July 5 meeting.

Under criticism

However,this system too has come in for criticism,especially after the England vs Ukraine match in the recent Euros,when England defender John Terry cleared the ball seemingly off the goal line but replays showed the ball had clearly crossed the line. The additional assistant referee did not make the correct call though he was just 10 yards away.

GLT makes use of two aids,GoalRef and Hawkeye. GoalRef,developed by a German company,uses an embedded micro-chip in the ball coupled with a magnetic field around the goal line. Once the field is disrupted by the passage of the ball,the referee is alerted through a message on his wrist-watch. Hawkeye,meanwhile,predicts the path of the ball through analysis from different high-speed cameras placed all around the field. The Hawkeye system was also trialled in a friendly game between England and Belgium at Wembley in June.

FIFA president Joseph Blatter,opposed to the use of technology,said that he had changed his position after Frank Lampard scored against Germany but the goal was not given in the 2010 World Cup. Blatter had said: “After the 2010 World Cup,I said to myself that we could not have any more situations like these and especially not in the World Cup.”