England v Belgium to trial goal technology
442 Staff - Thursday 24 May 2012, 15:13
England's home friendly against
Belgium at Wembley next month will be used to test the Hawk-Eye
goal-line technology system, world governing body FIFA said on
Thursday.
Independent testers from EMPA (Swiss Federal Laboratories
for Materials Science and Technology) and representatives from
FIFA will monitor the system although it will not be available
for use by the match officials on June 2.
The Hawk-Eye system was also tested in a English minor
league cup final between Eastleigh and AFC Totton in April.
An alternative system, GoalRef, has undergone trials at two
Danish league matches this month.
"Such tests, along with those being conducted for the
GoalRef system in Denmark, could lead to the International
Football Association Board approving the introduction of
goalline technology at its special meeting at the beginning of
July," a statement said.
FIFA stressed that the officials at the England versus
Belgium match, the last for the hosts before the start of Euro
2012, would not be able to use Hawk-Eye in the event of a close
decision on the goalline.
"Should a goal-line incident occur at this or any of the
'test' matches, the system will not be utilised by the match
officials," FIFA said.
"It means the GLT system will have no influence on the
outcome of the matches in which the system is being tested."
The English FA has long campaigned for the introduction of
goalline technology with the debate surfacing every time there
is a controversial incident such as Frank Lampard's shot against
Germany in the 2010 World Cup that clearly bounced down over the
line but was not awarded as a goal.