Abstract

There are many high-profile incidents and
misjudgments in association football games. Goal line incidents in particular
triggered the International Football Association Board to reconsider the
introduction of goal-line technology into the rules of the game. The
decision to use goal- line technology was formalized at its annual business
meeting in October 2010. Also, an
announcement that goal line technology would be used in the 2014 FIFA World Cup
to be hosted by Brazil. This invigorated retrieved interest and dispute regarding
its accuracy and dependability, its influence on the liquidity and rhythm of
the game, its influence on the nature of the game. When controversial decisions
such as high-profile incidents and misjudgments are
made, the referee sometimes get more pressures and tensions from players, fans
and clubs. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the solutions of incidents and misjudgments in association
football
in the past, the function of goal-line technology used in soccer and the system’s
future. The following three themes are a synthesis of the findings of the paper
are knowledge of technology, effect for game, fairness and justice.

Key
Words: Goal line technology, association football, referee,
justice, information technology.

Introduction

Information
technology tools used in sports industry currently are hot technology growth
point in global sports development. While researching texts written about information technology used in soccer,
I found there are many authors have published articles about
the high-profile incidents and misjudgments in
games,
particularly sports journals and newspapers. These authors often
placed the sports event they were studying into an historical context by discussing
the important events in sports of the year in which the article was published. However,
while these authors discuss journals and newspapers, I could not find much
discussion about another important source of sports knowledge: information
technology used in sports. My goal in this paper is to introduce
the current situations of high-profile
incidents and misjudgments in soccer games. Also, it will discuss information technology tools
used in professional soccer games
in the past and the various effects and how they will advance in the future. In
order to give a more detailed analysis, I choose to focus on only goal-line technology.

History
& Reason

The cause to introduce goal-line technology
grew louder in history seasons following a number of high-profile incidents; the
disputed goals (the entire ball must completely cross the goal line for a goal
to be awarded) have marred the sport at its highest levels for years. There is
a famous example in soccer history that Bell introduces in her article that “In
1966, England, as the host, won its first and only World Cup title, over West
Germany, on an overtime goal by Geoff Hurst that is still the subject of
intense debate.” (Bell,2012) In that moment, the science technology can’t
support people to use any technical skills to solve these problems. Also, in recent seasons there are still a
number of high-profile incidents, most notably the non-awarding of a goal after
Frank Lampard shot across the line in the match between England and Germany at
the 2010 FIFA (Federation International de Football Association) World Cup. This
goal-line incident in particular triggered the International Football Association
Board decision to reconsider the introduction of goal-line technology into the
laws of the game.

Solution
in the past   

Before this technology was wide used in soccer
games, there were lots of high-profile incidents and misjudgments in games. Therefore,
how did soccer associations like FIFA and UEFA (Union of European Football
Association) deal with these problems before? The answer is to add referees
near the door line to help the main referee confirm whether a goal is scored. As
we know, there were only three referees in a soccer game before. The main
referee is the person who needs to make sure that the game runs smoothly and players
play under the rules of the game during the course of a match. Also, there were
two assistant referees who were enabled to alarm the main referee in certain
situations such as players offside or invasions of the rules of the game
accident out of the view of the referee. However, FIFA adds referees near both
lines to deal with incidents and misjudgments in games this solution was also
not perfect. Sometimes referees still make mistake in games, because they also
hard to confirm whether a goal was scored used by human eyes.

Technology
in System

After
more than two years of comprehensive testing conducted by a technology company
named EMPA. In its experimental stages a promising initiative to
introduce technology in soccer has been a “smartball” loaded with a
computer chip, jointly developed by German companies Cairos Technologies and
the Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Circuits, an engineering research and
software development company (Fowler, 2013). In an independent test institute
based in Switzerland, the iPhone company decided to approve the principle of
the use of goal line technology in association football. Based on the pass/fail
test requirements to technology providers, namely Goal Ref and Hawkeye, the
company became the first to pass all the necessary tests. The two companies
subsequently signed license agreements with FIFA in October 2012, therefore,
being granted official authorization to install their respective goal line
technology systems worldwide.

Goal
line technology is supported by Hawk-eye system and Goal control system. For an
long time, the Hawk-Eye technology has been a leading multiple ball tracking
system (McIlroy, 2008). The Hawk-eye system is developed by
engineers of Roke Manor Research Limited, which has been used in cricket,
tennis and snooker. The system is based on the triangulation principle and uses
visual images and time data provided by high-speed cameras that are located in
different areas of the site. Also, the Hawk-eye system needs to set up 6
cameras, worth around 250 thousand euros, around the stadium. According
to the inventor of the system, Paul Hawkins said that if the ball is completely
blocked, then the system will fail, in order to achieve accuracy, at least 25%
of the ball need to be visible. In 2014, the World Cup in Brazil adopted a
German goal line technology system developed by a German company called Goal-Control,
each costing about 100,000 euros. The system uses 14 high-speed cameras to
transmit digital photos to the data placed on the top of the stadium. After
analyzing the data, the system transmits the result to the special watch worn
by the referee. If the ball passes the gate line, the watch will show
“goal”. The whole process takes less than a second. (Hawk-Eye,
2012).

Goal-control
is another goal line technology that has won favour with FIFA (Fowler, 2013). The
Goal-Control system response time is so fast, on the one hand due to the
observation of the goal of the camera up to 500 times per second camera speed, but
on the other hand is the smart watch real-time receive signal. The Goal-Control
system not only has high temporal resolution, but also has strong spatial
resolution, and the three-dimensional spatial resolution reaches 5 millimeters.
The excellent performance of time resolution and spatial resolution makes the
Goal-Control system have the capability and reliability of timely response, and
has passed the strict FIFA audit. Goal-Control is a supplier of equipment,
which needs to be installed by FIFA Approved Firm before it is used. The
professional workers in an installation company, need to arrive at the stadium
before the game to complete a site survey. This involves them walking around
the stadium locating ideal positions for the cameras locating possible areas
for the booth and also cable runs. It takes approximately a week or a week and
half to complete all the installation in the system setup. It takes a team of
about six to install all the cables and all the equipment.

Using
in Games

Both
installations passed the final tests and FIFA gave the green light for the
respective systems to be used during the competition. The final intrinsic
element in the implementation of goal line technology is the pre-match check by
the match officials. The match officials are required to test the functionality
of the goal line technology in both goals ensuring the system is fully
functioning before the first whistle blows. All referee checks were performed
successfully in FIFA Club World Cup in Japan 2012 and the goal line technology
was used in all eight matches. The announcement that goal line technology would
be used in the 2014 FIFA World Cup to be hosted by Brazil sparked renewed
interest and debate regarding its accuracy and reliability, its influence on
the fluidity and rhythm of the game, its influence on the nature of the game,
its practical implementation (Ryall, 2012), and the psychological effects it
would have on referees. With a good start, many associations brought goal line
technology in to their own soccer games such as European Champion Club’s Cup,
MLS (Major League Soccer) and FIFA Confederations Cup. In
the Confederations Cup final in 2013, Italy won 5-4. In the twenty-fourth
minute, Diamante had a direct free kick on the right side of the far corner.
The ball hit in remote column after hitting the back of Muslera’s head then
flew to the gate. He kicks the gate line out, scored the first goal, and FIFA
and put this goal on Diamante. However, after the confirmation of the goal line
technology, then the whole ball did not cross the line. It’s the last kick of
the ball into the Astoria, FIFA promptly corrected goal personnel, confirmed
the goal for Italy was Astoria. Also, FIFA allowed the use of goal line
technology in 2014 Brazil World Cup in all 64 games. In Brazil
World Cup B group first round, Chile beat Australia 3-1. Fifty-nine minutes
later, Vargas grabbed the ball in front of the restricted area, and the ball
passed the goalkeeper. Wilkinson finished the rescue on the gate line. The goal
line technique determines that the ball has not been inserted. Still
in World Cup in Brazil June 16, 2014 French team VS Honduras team, the Honduras
goalkeeper quickly kicked the football out of the gate line, but the referee or
by virtue of the goal line technology that goal. The first goal of the world
cup technology introduced into the stadium. The technology is monitored by 14
ultra-high definition cameras placed on the court, and once the ball goes in,
it will alert the wrist watch on the wrist in one second. In France’s match
against Honduras, it quickly found its own value.

Criticisms

Although the good results
goal line technology have produced, and supporters insist the goal
line technology will reduce referee errors in the game, there are still many
criticisms about this technology. A lot of criticism comes from FIFA itself,
including ex-chairman Blatter. In addition to technical criticism, critics
point out that the technology will damage the human impact of the game, thereby
reducing the fun of people arguing over mistakes. Blatter said: “other
sports will change the rules according to the emerging technology, but we don’t
do so, so as to maintain the charm and popularity of football”. (Bell 2012)
He believes that if the introduction of the Hawkeye system will make players
and coaches constantly request replay, It will disturb the continuity of
football matches. And the introduction of Adidas’s system will increase the
monopoly of the sports company to the football industry. Other
critics said it would be costly to adopt this technology at all levels of
events, especially for small or poor football associations. FIFA officials said
they were more inclined to “better law enforcement” or more referees,
rather than using technology to solve problems. Supporters have cited a number
of wrong goal line decisions to determine the results of the race to hit back,
and pointed out that after the initial test of FIFA, this technology has
improved a lot. Supporters also argue that priority should be given to the
technology’s help to the referee, not whether it will cause disunity of the
rules because not all the football associations can enforce it. As we all know,
FIFA has never supported the application of door line technology and Ex-President
Blatter has made a firm statement that he will not let the door line technology
into the stadium during his term.

J Suruial, points out that

However, chairman’s attitude has
undergone a great change of 180 degrees in 2012. In an interview with CNN,
Blatter said: “my position is that as long as the door line technology is
useful, we will use. If this technology can be fast and accurate, and the
operation is not too complicated, I think there will be a great opportunity to
be accepted by us. It is worth mentioning that, due to UEFA ex-president
Platini’s attitude is also to resist the door line technology, so Blatter also
showed the “Persuasion” attitude. “As long as the goal line
technology is really feasible, the management will agree, even the
conservatives. Mr. Platini has always been against the goal line technology in
the early time, because he worries about what will happen after the offside
technology and so on a lot of new things. But now we’re talking about the door
line technology.

As
a result, many adherents of line technology saw the dawn of its formal
appearance on the court. However, with a long run and good behavior, goal line
technology has already used in many association soccer games and with a good
future.

Future

There
is no doubt about that goal line technology will have a comprehensive use in
sports especially in association football. With technology developing faster
and faster, this system it must have more upgrades and promotions. From a technical
angle, it will have more convenient, substantial and economical technology use
in this system which can make this system use comprehensive. On the other hand,
if goal line technology more and more use in association football it will avoid
high-profile incidents and misjudgments in
games. This is a good way that information technology uses to protect justice.

Conclusion

The purpose of the study
was to elicit the perceptions of soccer referees regarding the function of goal
line technology use in soccer. The results of the study suggest that while
referees are aware of goal line technology, they are not familiar with the use
and possess in depth knowledge of the phenomenon. Even though a lot of
criticisms voices to doubt this technology, this system is still running well
and also has a good future.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Works
Cited

Bell, Jack. “Goal-Line Technology Approved,
After Long Wait.” New York Times, vol. B.14, 2012, p. 14.

Fowler,
S. (2013). How feasible is officiating technology in football. Paper presented
at the Interactive Multimedia Conference ’13. Southampton, United Kingdom.

Hawk-Eye
(2012). Sports Officiating: Football, Hawkeye Innovations. Available-at:http://www.hawkeyeinnovations.co.uk/page/sports-officiating/football.
Accessed on 18/02/2013.

McIlroy,
P. (2008). Hawk-Eye: Augmented reality in sports broadcasting and officiating.
International Symposium on Mixed and Augmented Reality, 2008, p. xiv. Available
at: http://dl.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=1605312. Accessed on 18/02/2013.

Ryall,
E. (2012). Are there any good arguments against goal line technology? Sport,
Ethics and Philosophy, 6(4), 439-450.

Surujlal, J, and D.B Jordaan. “Goal Line
Technology in Soccer: Are Referees Ready for Technology in Decision Making:
Technology and Innovation.” African Journal for Physical Health
Education, Recreation and Dance, vol. 19, no. 2, 2013, pp. 245–257.

Wire. “Soccer to Implement Goal-Line
Technology.” Philadelphia Inquirer, vol. C.5, 2012, p. 5.