Abstract

This report will examine technology’s influence throughout the sporting world and its current paramountcy on sporting matches and events. It will analyse current technological officiating methods concentrating on their level of success and how these could be imitated in football; using valued perspectives both for and against technological involvement in football. The paper will acknowledge each side of the argument in detail, deciphering factors that cause such strong opinions to be held around the debate of goal line technology or indeed the lack of it. The opinions of those whom are involved and will be effected by such a change in the world’s most popular game will be discussed in conjunction with the vast list of questions and issues surrounding the debate.

Factors involving the various technologies available or in current development will be discussed as well as the way the politics, that have many believing are the sole source of football’s lack of technological input, effect companies’ and institute’s researching and developing of potential goal line technology. The head of the University of Loughborough's sporting development institute, Professor Mike Caine will speak of his personal stance on all of the controversy that has ignited the deliberation of the goal line technology debate in a phone interview conducted at the culmination of this dissertation.

The dissertation will conclude in successfully arguing for the implementation of goal line technology into the sport of football via video replay.

What is goal line technology?

Goal line technology is a technology that is being ivestigated to be used in football. It has come into the spotlight because of recent incidents where in games, the ball has crossed the line, but has not been noticed by the referee, and so the goal was not given. Sometimes when the ball crosses the line by a couple of inches before being hoofed out by a defender, it is difficult for the ref to see. Examples of this include:

Roy Carrol famously carried the ball over the line after a 50 yard shot by Pedro Mendes in 2005, with the score at 0-0 between Manchester United and Tottenham - the goal would have given Tottenham the win

Manchester United's Ryan Giggs slid the ball in in extra time of the 2007 FA Cup Final, where Chelsea's Petr Cech 'saved' the ball about a foot inside the goal line. The goal was not given and Chelsea went on to win the game. The goal would have seen Manchester United leading 1-0 with not much time left in the final

perhaps the most famous of all is Geoff Hurst's goal in the 1966 World Cup Final, which clearly did not cross the line and led to England winning the World Cup

The technology involves embedding the football with a microchip, and having sensors on the goal line, so the when the ball passes the goal line, the microchip will send a signal to the referee and he knows its a goal

Goal-line technology – Getting it right

August 2010

As the drone of the vuvuzela fades and the world recovers from the 2010 FIFA World Cup™ extravaganza in South Africa, one issue that will be on the lips of many a football fan around the world is whether goal-line technology has a place in the “beautiful game”. England player Frank Lampard’s disallowed goal against Germany in Bloemfontein on June 28 and various other controversial refereeing decisions at the FIFA 2010 World Cup™ are fuelling a long-standing debate about whether to introduce technology that can determine when a ball has crossed the goal line. The question officials have to answer, especially when a ball hits the cross bar and bounces down, is on which side of the line did the ball land? This article takes a look at two of the technologies that are possible candidates to support referees in officiating football matches.

Technology is now widely used to support umpiring and refereeing decisions in a range of sports. In tennis, it is commonly used to verify line calls, in cricket to back-up leg-before-wicket (LBW)¹ decisions and in rugby to verify tries. But in the world of football, the jury is still out on whether technology has a role in adjudicating the game.

A turning point?

FIFA, the world’s football governing body, has resisted the introduction of goal-line technology for some years. In March 2010, the International Football Association Board (IFAB), responsible for establishing the laws of the game, voted not to use the technology as they felt it was not good for the game. Following a number of controversial refereeing decisions at the 2010 FIFA World Cup™, however, FIFA has agreed to revisit the issue. Just days before the end of the tournament, FIFA General Secretary Jerome Valcke said, “I would say that it is the final World Cup with the current refereeing system.” He added, “The game is so fast, the ball is flying so quickly, we have to help them [the referees].”

Goal-line incidents have been the subject of great controversy and debate for many years. The most famous goal-line decision concerned the third goal scored by England (Geoff Hurst) in the 1966 World Cup final against West Germany. While 44 years ago the technologies available were limited, today the technological landscape is vastly different offering a range of possibilities that can assist referees in their decisions.

The two main candidate technologies for use in football are those produced by U.K. company Hawk-Eye Innovations and German company Cairos Technologies AG.

Hawk-Eye: Tracking balls in flight

The Hawk-Eye system (PCT² application - PCT/GB2000/004507), first developed in 1999 by Dr. Paul Hawkins, an expert in artificial intelligence, and Managing Director of Hawk-Eye Innovations, makes it possible to track the trajectory of balls in flight with a high degree of accuracy. The system is based on the principle of triangulation using the visual images and timing data provided by high-speed video cameras placed at six different locations around the area of play. This ensures that the goal is detected at times when players are huddled together at the goal mouth (for example, corners). As long as the ball is 25 percent visible, Hawk-Eye can track it.

Images are processed by a bank of computers in real time and sent to a central computer programmed to analyze a predefined playing area according to the rules of the game. This information is used to determine whether a ball has crossed a line or other rules have been infringed. In each frame sent from each camera, the system identifies the cluster of pixels that corresponds to the image of the ball. It calculates for each frame the three-dimensional position of the ball by comparing its position at the same instant in time on a least two cameras placed in different locations. A succession of frames builds up a record of the path along which the ball has travelled. The system generates a graphic image of the ball’s path and the playing area in real time and this information is readily available to judges, television viewers and coaching staff.

The system is even more astute than regular TV replays. A ball travelling at 60mph (97kph) moves at one meter per video frame on standard broadcast cameras which operate at 25 frames per second. Hawk-Eye uses cameras that operate at 500 frames per second making it possible to detect if a ball has crossed the goal line even for a fraction of a second.

The Hawk-Eye brand and simulation has been licensed to Codemasters, one of the oldest British video game developers, for use in sports video games and consoles.

Hawk-Eye was first used by U.K. broadcaster, Channel 4 during a Cricket Test Match between England and Pakistan on Lord’s Cricket Ground in May 2001. It is now regularly used by network broadcasters in many high-profile sporting events.

The International Cricket Council (ICC), the international governing body of cricket, first trialed Hawk-Eye in the 2008/2009 winter season to verify controversial LBW decisions. The umpire was able to look at what the ball actually did up to the point at which it hit the batsman but could not look at the predicted flight of the ball thereafter.

Hawk-Eye was first used in tennis at the 2006 Hopman Cup in Perth, Western Australia. Players were allowed to challenge point-ending line calls and have them reviewed by the referees using the technology. It has now become an integral part of the adjudication process in elite tennis tournaments.

“As a player, and now as a TV commentator, I always dreamed of the day when technology would take the accuracy of line calling to the next level. That day has now arrived.” Pam Shriver (TV commentator and former elite tennis player)

In the football stadium, Hawk-Eye’s development began in earnest in 2006 with trials first at Fulham Football Club (FC) and then at Reading FC. The system has been independently tested by the English Premier League and IFAB. The latter had stipulated that the technology must be accurate to within 5mm and provide the required information to the referee in less than 0.5 seconds. Hawk-Eye meets each of these conditions.

“We think [Hawk-Eye’s football system has] the right blend of simplicity and technology.” FA Premier League Spokesperson

In an open letter to FIFA’s President, Sepp Blatter, Dr. Hawkins says, “It is clear… that the technology fundamentally works and could be available for use within football if further in-stadia testing and development were permitted by IFAB and if there were decisive signals of intent to justify the investment in further testing.”

The Cairos System – A microchip in a match ball

Photo: Cairos Technologies A.G.

The second goal-line technology under consideration is that produced by German company Cairos Technologies AG in collaboration with Adidas. A number of international patent applications relating to this technology have been filed under the PCT.

The Cairos system involves embedding thin cables in the turf of the penalty area and behind the goal line. The electrical current that runs through the cables generates a magnetic field. A sensor suspended in the ball measures the magnetic fields as soon as the ball comes into contact with them and transmits data about the ball’s location to receivers located behind the goal that relay the data to a central computer. The computer then determines whether the ball has crossed the goal line. If so, a radio signal is transmitted to the referee’s watch within a split second.

Development began in 2006 and was first tested at the 2007 FIFA Club World Cup™ in Japan where it performed perfectly. At that time, Cairos teamed up with Adidas who “developed the suspension system for the ball, so that it keeps our chip safe inside the ball even when you kick the ball very hard,” said Oliver Braun, Cairos’ Director of Marketing and Communications. Adidas produced the test balls and those used during the FIFA Club World Cup in Japan.

One of the main concerns of those against using the new technologies is that of cost. They believe the costs of installation would be prohibitive and would create a two-tier system in football. Mr. Braun, however, explained that “Cairos bears the costs for the installation and will only charge the associations a percentage of what they pay the four referees for a match.” As for Hawk-Eye, Dr. Hawkins, told Press Association Sport that his company would install its goal-line technology in every Premier League ground free of charge in return for rights to sell sponsorship around the system.

The verdict?

Only time will tell if the events of the past weeks prove to be a turning point in the use of these or similar technologies in the world of football. While the technologies are not 100 percent foolproof, they are proving to be a useful tool for enabling umpires to better adjudicate and verify inconclusive incidents and promote fair play. Whatever FIFA’s ultimate decision, it is clear that these technologies do have the potential to reduce human error and to make goal-line controversies a thing of the past.

So how will the goal-line technology work?

Two different types of goal line technology have been approved by FIFA; Hawk-Eye and GoalRef.

Despite the name, Hawk-Eye does not operate in the same vein that has been so successful in tennis and cricket. Players will not have a say in using it; there will be no challenge system.

Instead an encrypted radio signal will be sent to the referee’s wristwatch when a goal has been scored.

The process will take less than 0.5 seconds to complete and be reliant upon six cameras, focusing on each goal, to track the ball. The signal will use a triangulation method to pinpoint the precise location of the ball before releasing a radio message.

The system has already been sampled in England. It was pioneered in the Hampshire Senior Cup final between Eastleigh FC and AFC Totton, and by the FA in England’s international encounter with Belgium three weeks later.

GoalRef is, on paper at least, a much more simple idea.

It will be dependent upon a microchip implanted in the ball, accompanied by low magnetic waves around the goal.

The system will detect any change in the magnetic field on or behind the goal line to assess whether a goal has been scored.

Like Hawk-Eye, the process will take less than a second.

The major concern with goal line technology was that it will slow down the pace of the game. The third umpire decision used in cricket and video ref in rugby are clearly not compatible with the free-flowing nature of football.

Neither is the system used in tennis.

But, the two systems advocated work in an entirely different fashion. Both require less than a second to generate a response that is much more accurate than human judgement and both leave the final decision in the hands of the match officials.

Complaints from fans that it will deny them something to talk about in the pub is obsolete and irrelevant. Football’s governing body has a duty of care to ensure that teams receive the fairest and highest quality of officiating.

The decision passed today by the IFAB has to be viewed as a major step forward in football’s desperate attempt to catch up with the officiating standards of rival sports.

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Goal-line technology