Fifa president Sepp Blatter calls for patience over introduction of goalline technology

Joseph Sepp Blatter,Launch Of 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil Official Emblem(Getty images)

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Fifa president Sepp Blatter has called for patience concerning the implementation of goalline technology.

There has been intense talk of introducing it in football to determine whether the ball has crossed the line, as Frank Lampard’s ‘ghost goal’ for England could have been potentially decisive in the World Cup against Germany last year.

Lampard was again at the centre of a controversial incident at the weekend, as replays indicated that the ball had not crossed the line against Tottenham, despite a goal being awarded.

The governing body of world football recently confirmed that further tests are set to be conducted in the coming months, but the results are not expected to arrive until July 2012.

Blatter has now called for patience until Fifa can arrive at a solution to implement the technology in an accurate and affordable manner.

“The technology and, in this case, specifically, the goal-line technology, is a file that has been open in FIFA and the international board since the year 2005 so it’s now six years that we are discussing about this matter and three years ago we have put all this technology on ice because it was not possible to find a satisfactory system that will answer the three questions,” he told ESPN.

“These are accuracy, immediate information and, I would say, an affordable system which is not too complicated or too expensive.

“We have opened again the discussion. After the World Cup 2010, our friends in England has identified as a blatant injustice to their team and to the game in general when 70cm behind the goal-line has not been identified by the match controllers, by the referees, then we have opened it again. We have started with 11 companies to make technical tests on goal-line technology. For the time being, we haven’t found out any company that answers these three questions, as it has been the case before.

“But, it is going better and an improvement and, therefore, the international association board where, by the way, the British associations have 50% of the say, these companies will have the right to present again to the international board in 2012. That will take place in England and, if it is satisfactory, then we will take the decision to have, for the first time in the World Cup 2014 in Brazil, in a Fifa competition, this goal-line technology.

“If it works, it means that other leagues or clubs can use it before but it might be a decision by IFAB so we are asking a little bit of patience because, so far, there is no accurate system to decide whether the ball is in or out.

“And, finally, we have to say that football is based on errors and, okay, there was not another error, or not an error because the way the cameras are presented you cannot see what has happened but definitely, not only Fifa but the international board is dealing with this matter and it is a matter of importance for the future of football.”