By Andrew Warshaw
July 8 – The man who devised the revolutionary vanishing spray that been used at the World Cup to keep defensive walls 10 yards (9.15 metres) from the ball at freekicks says he has no immediate interest in making money and just wants his invention to be taken up globally.
Fourteen years after it was first used in the Copa Belo Horizonte 2000 – a junior tournament in one of the current World Cup host cities – the spray, which disappears after one minute, has proved one of the great World Cup success stories.
“I had no commercial ambition,” said Heine Allemagne.” Perhaps there will be some financial side but that can come later, I wanted to get the product perfect for football. I wanted to help the referees keep discipline. The time now taken at free-kick has dropped from 48 seconds to around 20 seconds. There are fewer yellow and red cards and more goals from free-kicks, and the players respect the line.”
Although the spray has been used for many years in South America, this is the first time it is has been seen at a major international tournament. FIFA took delivery of 320 cans for the 64 World Cup matches.
In 2012, the International FA Board authorised the product to be used internationally following tests in 18,000 professional games. FIFA tested the spray, known as 9.15 Fair Play, at the Under-17 and Under-20 world championships in 2013 and it was also used at the Club World Cup before being introduced at the current tournament.
Nevertheless, Allemagne told reporters, FIFA president Sepp Blatter and secretary general Jerome Valcke needed some convincing. “Blatter was sceptical in the beginning but then realised this solved a football problem. Some people did not think it was necessary or would act as enough deterrent to keep people behind the line. But they changed their minds.”
Allemagne, born and raised in the state of Minas Gerais where today’s semi-final between Brazil and Germany is being played at Belo Horizonte’s Mineirao stadium, was working in TV and graphic design when he came up with idea. A keen amateur footballer, he says he was irritated by time-wasting and encroaching at freekicks.
“I am just a face in the crowd, someone from Minas Gerais who tackled a century-old problem. It is literally a dream come true to see 9.15 Fair Play being used at this World Cup and seen by billions of people across the globe. The journey to get here has had its challenges but ultimately it has been hugely rewarding. I hope that 9.15 Fair Play continues to help referees around the world, from all levels of football, and improve the efficiency of the game.”
Contact the writer of this story at moc.l1734942010labto1734942010ofdlr1734942010owedi1734942010sni@w1734942010ahsra1734942010w.wer1734942010dna1734942010