FIFA Dictates Rigorous Goal-Line Tech Testing

FIFA may be under heavy scrutiny for questionable practices, but there is at least one thing they take extraordinarily seriously; technology acceptance testing. Or at least goal-line technology testing. Wired.com broke down the great rigor potential goal-line technology solutions are put through before being adopted by FIFA. If you thought the biggest hurdle was FIFA simply accepting that they needed to move into the 21st century, you will soon find out that was just the beginning.

As mentioned in a previous article, Goal-Line Technology Under FIFA Review, (still) FIFA President Sepp Blatter said a goal-line technology solution needs to be accurate, immediate and not too complicated. To determine if potential solutions meet those criteria, they go through a battering of tests in both day and nighttime conditions. The first test is simple; balls are kicked into the net from varying spots on the field, and the only passing grade is 100% detection accuracy.

For the second phase of testing, a ball is kicked against a flat wall aligned with the goal line. The wall is moved back into the net and further balls are kicked against the wall. This is to test whether the ball is detected as a fair goal if, and only if, it fully crosses the goal line. Passing score here is a little more lenient, just 90% accurate. Wired.com describes the next test as, “involve[ing] a ball being placed within a mechanism that’ll move it slowly across the goal line. The ball will be rotated at varying speeds, and a 90 percent success rate is also expected here.”

The above assessments determine the accuracy factor (as Blatter mentioned), but a separate test puts the ‘immediate’ requirement under inspection. A referee must be alerted via a wristwatch of the goal within 1 second of the goal being scored. No word yet how Blatter’s request for technology that is not ‘too complicated’ is being measured.

This is a tall order. In FIFA’s first testing cycle this year, all 10 companies that pitched technologies failed to meet the criteria for acceptance. Hopefully someone will step up with a solution soon because FIFA has set July 2012 as the approval deadline to be used in the 2014 Brazil World Cup. Ref. guardian.co.uk, wired.com, img: totalfootballmadness.com