Goal-line technology to debut in Africa

Goal-line technology (GLT) will make its debut in Africa in the 2013 FIFA Club World Cup here.

GoalControl GmbH was selected for the tournament as part of a tender process after the world's football governing body FIFA invited all four FIFA-licenced GLT providers to submit their proposals, reports Xinhua.

The Germany-based company has since conducted site inspections and installed its GoalControl-4D system in the two venues, Marrakech and Agadir, where Chinese club Guangzhou Evergrande, the newly crowned Asian champions, will meet African winners Al Ahly in a quarter-final three days after the opening match.

Prior to the start of every game, the match officials will carry out their own tests, in line with the operational procedures first implemented at the 2012 Club World Cup in Japan and approved by the International Football Association Board (IFAB).

Africa thus will be the fourth continent to host an event in which the match officials are supported in their decision-making through the use of the technology.

The GoalControl-4D system is equipped with 14 high-speed cameras that are mounted on the roof and located around the pitch, with seven cameras focusing on either goal mouth.

If the ball crosses the goal line, the central processing unit automatically sends an encrypted radio signal to the referee's watch in less than one second indicating a goal by vibration and a visual signal.

FIFA said it would follow on from the successful implementation of GoalControl-4D during the Confederations Cup in Brazil where the system indicated every one of the 68 goals correctly, which received a high level of satisfaction reported by the match officials.