After its successful introduction to professional football in the English Premier League, the French Ligue 1, Bundesliga and last year’s FIFA World Cup in Brazil, goal-line technology’s immediate future in Europe’s continental competitions will be decided by as early as next month.
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So far, the technology hasn’t experienced any noticeable flaws and has enhanced the viewing and officiating of the game according to general secretary, Gianni Infantino last Friday.
“This has been on the table for quite some time. It was discussed in depth today and we decided that a decision on the use would be taken in January at the next executive committee meeting,” Infantino told a news conference after an executive committee in western Paris, according to GMA News Online.
Almost every Englishman would be able to recall the where they were and what they were doing on the day that England played red hot favorites, Germany in a World Cup quarter final in 2010. Frank Lampard struck the ball from well outside the box, hit the crossbar, for the ball to ricochet straight to the ground and only just pass the goal line. Unfortunately for England, the referee ruled that the ball had not passed the line and was not a goal. That decision cost England the match and their campaign, and was precisely when fans began calling for technology to have a presence in situations similar to that.
Slowly but surely, the technology is making it’s way into world football, but still requires a great deal of work. “There are logistical challenges,” stated Infantino. One could only imagine the cost of the technology and the installation in world venues must be the issue, as there aren’t many practical reasons as to why the technology should be implemented straight away.
For now, keeping logistical challenges in mind, it would seem reasonable to follow the approach of tennis with their hawk-eye system where it is only in use for major events like grand slam competitions. UEFA and their continental championships are without a doubt one of the largest and most popular football organizations in the world and deserve the technology as much as any other league or competition.
“There is a positive attitude towards that. Then there are practical aspects. If we go for the goal line technology, it will be for the top competitions next season.”
Hopefully one day the technology will become standard for all professional matches, but for now, we can only be patient with UEFA and other major football organizations and trust that they have the best interest of the players and fans at the top of their list.