I have been keeping an eye on the goal-line technology debate in football this year.
A Wikipedia page for Goal-line technology was created in October 2008. It has been edited over 100 times in 2012 and provides an excellent overview of the topic.
Goal-line technology has been in the news over the last week.
It is in use at the 2012 FIFA Club World Cup. GoalRef has been installed in Yokohama and Hawk-Eye at Hiroshima.
A Michel Platini press conference has attracted a lot of comment. At the conference he is quoted as saying:
It is not a question of goal-line technology, it is a question of technology. Where do you begin with the technology and where do you end with the technology? Technology is helpful but we have to draw the lines on certain things.
To put goal-line technology in our competitions would cost €50 million in five years. I prefer to give €50m to the grassroots and development in football rather than to put €50m into technology for perhaps one or two goals per year. That’s a lot of money per goal.
We supported the additional referees which are now accepted by the international board, and with the referee one metre from the line I think if he has good glasses he can see if the ball is inside the goal or outside.
It is an interesting coincidence that Chelsea are playing in the tournament. One of their team, Frank Lampard, has been an advocate for goal-line technology. His ‘goal’ in the 2010 World Cup amplified the debate about how officials make decisions about a goal being scored.
Photo Credit
Lampard effort not given (BBC, 28 June 2010)
That’s a good point about the cost of the technology compared to the frequency of errors. What I could do with just a fraction of that money!
I think it is a very important debate, Sean.
I think the game can own a shared responsibility for integrity. I think there is a great opportunity for goal-line officials which means all levels of the sport can afford to adjudicate on goals and accept the fallibility of the human eye-brain system.
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