GoalControl: FIFA Approves Goal-Line Technology

By Fabian Gorsler, 2015

FIFA finally approved a form of goal line technology on Tuesday, for the Confederations Cup and the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. After changing their stance from adamantly against goal line technology to conceding that it would help with refereeing decisions, FIFA ultimately chose GoalControl as the provider of the technology.

Source: bbc.co.uk

GoalControl is a German based company which is ironic seeing that it was England’s disallowed goal against Germany in the last World Cup that prompted the discussions. GoalControl works using 14 high speed cameras on the roof of the stadium, 7 aimed at each goal, to determine the position of the ball on the pitch. The cameras are hooked up to an image processing computer system which sends a signal to the referees’ watch in the form of a vibrating signal as well as an optical signal.

The system beat out three other competitors, two of which had been licensed and tested long before GoalControl had been. Hawkeye, used in cricket and tennis to a considerable degree of success, was seen by many as the favorite. Unlike the other two providers it is also a camera system and the public and pundits alike believed that its reputation in tennis would make the choice a no-brainer. The other two systems were GoalRef and Cairos which used magnetic fields instead of cameras.

GoalControl is said to cost around $260,000 to install per stadium and another $3,900 to run during the games. This may be an indication as to how widespread the use of this system will be, especially at the club level as only the top clubs in the top leagues may be able to afford the technology.

Interestingly, referees have the power to decide whether or not GoalControl will be used, before a match begins. If, during mandatory pre-game tests, referees believe there to be any inaccuracy they can decide to completely switch off the goal-line technology.

As it stands GoalControl has only been employed by FIFA for the two upcoming international tournaments, and individual leagues such as the English Premier League or the German Bundesliga can still decide on another system if they judge it to be more suitable than GoalControl. FIFA also has a provision in its contract with the Goal-line technology provider that allows it to drop them before the World Cup if any problems occur during, or before, the Confederations Cup.

Match-fixing: Is World Football In Trouble?

Source: guardian.co.uk

By Fabian Gorsler, 2015

To answer the question, yes, world football is in trouble. World football is in big, big, trouble. Last month Interpol, the international police force that assists with criminal activities that arise at the international scale, released a statement that seemingly came out of nowhere. They claimed that football was subject to massive amounts of match-fixing that was occurring not only in the obscure lesser leagues around the world but in the top European leagues as well. They compared the match-fixing revenue to that of “global firms” with the reported revenue to be up in the billions.

FIFA and the Football Associations have been quick to step in and try to downplay how many matches were affected and the involvement of their teams and players. This is the obvious knee-jerk reaction: deny and shift blame. This is the wrong reaction as it is clear that something is going on behind the scenes and it is not enough to say “Don’t look at us, we are clean but yes it is happening somewhere over there. Go look over there, not here”.