FIFA is considering employing the Hawk-Eye technology that many of us are already familiar with from Wimbledon and other leading tennis tournaments.
Hawk-Eye's inventor has said that he could develop goal-line technology that could decide whether or not a goal had been scored in under half a second.
IFAB considering new tech
The International Football Board (IFAB) is currently asking companies to tender systems that will decide on the veracity of a goal being scored in under a second.
"Our system for football is easier than for cricket, technically," said Hawk-Eye inventor Paul Hawkins.
"Technology is not here to hurt anyone, it can only make things better."
The IFAB is looking at new technologies this year and hopes to make a final decision on what to use by March 2011.
When we wuz robbed
If only they had employed such technology in the 2010 World Cup finals match, when Frank Lampard scored a clear goal that was, painfully, not given, leading England to lose 4-1 against Germany.
Hawkins, chief exec of Hawk-Eye Innovations, explains that the system for football is very similar to the multiple-camera system already used in cricket and football.
Another company pitching for FIFA's business is German company Cairos which uses a system in which a silicon chip is fitted inside the football and, according to MD Christian Holzer system is "100% accurate."
Fifa has, in the past, publicly dismissed goal-line technology. Speaking to the BBC back in 2008, Dawkins explained that he was angry that Fifa had decided not to implement Hawk-Eye technology for use in 2009, even though it looked as if a deal for the tech to be installed had been put in place.
"We have invested an awful lot of money and now we have no return on that. I am livid," he explained.
Dawkins will be hoping that this latest 'interest' in the technology from Fifa turns into something more concrete.
Via BBC News
