By Tom Parsons
April 11 – In a first for any football league globally, the English Premier League has voted to bring in goal line technology from next season, choosing British-based firm Hawk-Eye to provide the science. Hawk-Eye beat three other potential suitors, including German firm GoalControl, to the contract, announced by the Premier League this afternoon.
FIFA have appointed GoalControl as official providers of GLT at the Confederations Cup in June, and the Brazil World Cup in 2014.
The Hawk-Eye technology will be installed at Wembley, as well as all 20 Premier League stadiums in time for the start of next season, with the first game where the technology will be used being the Community Shield in August. All FA Cup 3rd round fixtures through to the final will also have the technology available, if played at grounds which have the system installed.
Hawk-Eye’s system, now under the ownership of Sony, costs about £250,000 to install at each of the grounds. The ability to show graphic images of where the ball has landed/would have been in relation to the goal line was a potential decision breaker as broadcasters would be able to use these images in their transmissions to enhance the TV viewer’s experience.
Already the leader in cricket and tennis decision technology, Hawk-Eye’s system uses seven cameras per goal and is described as “millimetre accurate”. The system notifies the referee whether the ball crosses the line via a vibration and visual notification on the referee’s watch will be sent within one second of a goal being scored.
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