Goal-line Tech Set For March Deadline

Goal-line technology could be used in the Premier League as early as the 2012-13 season, after it was announced that the International Football Association Board will make a ruling on the matter in March 2012.

Should a system get approval then FIFA boss Sepp Blatter has indicated that leagues could use the technology from the start of the following season if the equipment is ‘accurate and affordable’.

Blatter, speaking at a news conference in Brazil ahead of Saturday’s qualifying draw for the 2014 World Cup in Rio, also added that the goal-line technology could be used at the Rio tournament – a dramatic U-turn for the FIFA president, having opposed the technology for years.

Blatter effectively closed the issue of goal-line technology in March 2010, but re-opened the case after apologising for the official’s error that ruled out Frank Lampard’s effort for England against Germany in the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

The Premier League has already invested in the Hawk-Eye ball-tracking system, which is already widely used in tennis and cricket.

Premier League boss Richard Scudamore added: ‘The whole point of the game is about scoring goals. Players strain every sinew to either create or deny them, fans shout themselves hoarse exhorting their teams to score them, managers’ and players’ careers can be defined by them’.

‘The technology is available, it is the fairness that is important and the Premier League would introduce it tomorrow if it could. Now FIFA is constructively engaged we are hopeful the 2012-13 season is a realistic aim’.

If the body approves a system, it will then be brought into law on 1st July 2012.