Premier League approves goal-line technology

The Premier League is blazing a trail in the world of football as it becomes the first major domestic competition to sanction the use of goal-line technology.

The league announced they had signed a contract with British-based company Hawk-Eye on Thursday.

Hawk-Eye’s camera based tracking system, which is already used in both tennis and cricket, will be implemented at all 20 Premiership grounds as well as Wembley Stadium and will be first used at the FA Community Shield in August.

The technology uses seven cameras per goal and sends a signal within a second of the ball crossing the line to the referee, who then has the final say on whether the goal should stand.

The Sony-owned company was a favourite to secure the contract after the Premier League invested in the development of its technology in 2007.

The use of goal-line technology has divided opinion within the game for years.

FIFA President Sepp Blatter famously changed his stance to support the use of technology in the wake of Frank Lampard’s wrongly disallowed goal against Germany at the 2010 FIFA World Cup finals.

At the Soccerex conference in Manchester, long-time campaigner for goal-line technology and former Arsenal and FA Vice Chairman David Dein was extremely happy with the decision.

“The Premier League will be the first league in Europe to introduce it. I have been on this campaign for six or seven years and now it’s going to happen,” Dein said.

“The referees need help, the camera will always beat the eye, and every referee in the Premier League is in favour of it.”

La Liga look like the next major league to follow suit with the head of the Spanish league Francisco Roca Perez claiming they would use the use the technology in the new few years.

“We are truly advocates for technology and we will look at the systems and the cost. We are not going to be as quick as the Premier League but we are in favour of the system,” Perez said at the Soccerex conference.

“I expect that in two or three years we will be able to do something like this either with technology that we buy or that we create ourselves.”