Sport Innovation/Goal-line Technology/The trigger that caused the need to further investigate goal-line technologies

The debate as to whether or not goal-line technology (GLT) should be implemented in football has been raging for over a decade [1]. However, in the past few years there have been a few incidents that have added fuel to the fire.

In 2009, during an EPL game Manchester United’s goalkeeper, Roy Carroll, attempted to save Tottenham’s Pedro Mendes goal accidentally fumbled the ball over his own line. He quickly hauled the ball back into play. Neither the referee nor assistant referee saw the goal and the games ended 0-0 [2].

More recently, during the England vs. Germany game in the 2010 FIFA World Cup, Frank Lampard’s goal was disallowed as neither the referee nor assistant referee had direct line of sight on the play. Fans watching the replay could clearly see the ball had in fact completely crossed the goal line [3].

Both of these incidents undoubtedly prove that there is a gap that needs to be filled in order to ensure that football is played evenly and fairly, especially now that there is so much money involved in the sport. The fact that GLT could remove any doubt that a goal was or wasn't a goal, coupled with many other factors makes a strong case for the introduction of GLT into Football and minimises the case against the introduction of GLT.

Now that FIFA is actively investigating GLT and testing nine different technologies and have set such strict criteria, incidents such as the above, will not occur in any professional football games [4].