Sports / Soccer |
Goal line technology to be used next year - FIFA(Reuters)Updated: 2006-11-22 17:43 MADRID, Nov 21 - Goal-line technology will be used in next year's World Club Championship following trials this year in junior competitions run by world football's governing body, FIFA president Sepp Blatter said on Tuesday. FIFA had planned to use the technology in this year's World Cup but shelved the idea after trials had proved inconclusive. "In 2005 we did different tests at the Under-17 World Cup in Peru but the evidence wasn't clear so we will continue to carry out trials in junior competitions in 2007," Blatter told a news conference in Madrid. "We will then use it at the 2007 World Club Championship and offer its use at other FIFA competitions too." England's Premier League, which intends to submit a paper on the issue to FIFA in January, welcomed the news, describing it as a "step in the right direction". "There were problems of course as we know in the beginning, but from our studies, this technology can be very effective," said Premier League spokesman Dan Johnson. But proposals by the English league on the introduction of a "video-referee" to solve other arguments during a game such as offside, penalty claims and off-the-ball clashes were quickly dismissed by both FIFA and UEFA, the European governing body. Blatter said goal-line video equipment was the only type of technology that might be used to help referees, stressing the need for improved training for match officials. "We need to have better training for referees and especially linesmen," he said. "Referees need to be professional and the linesmen must be specialists. The 2009 Confederations Cup will only use specialist linesmen." UEFA chief executive Lars-Christer Olsson said his organisation was in favour of goal-line technology, but said this was "far enough". "The goal-line system is in real-time and happens quickly, but we are concerned that video-refereeing would stop the flow of the game," he told Reuters after a meeting at the European Parliament in Brussels. "This would also open up windows for further commercials in the middle of the match, which would damage its image and secondly this would lead to a referee's authority being undermined during a match." The English Premier League said that despite these comments, it still hoped the broader issue of video technology would be debated by UEFA and FIFA next year.
|
|