What Happened to Goal Line Technology

I was watching a soccer game earlier today when a goal was scored that did not clearly cross the goal line during the live feed. Upon replay and freeze frame it appears that the goal had crossed the line before the team defending the goal cleared it away. The referee and his linesman were not sure if a goal had been scored and according football's governing body (FIFA) rules they could not call a goal for the attacking team. Of course, mayhem ensued. There were claims of a goal and counter claims that a goal had not been scored. As I watched this unfold I thought to myself what happened to "goal line technology".

There have been many cases of disallowed goals that have cause teams to lose games and as a result millions of dollars. The cases include a game between Manchester United (ManU) and Tottenham Hotspur. A player from ManU kicked a ball from close to the half line towards the ManU goal. The ManU goal keeper mishandled the ball and even in live play clearly crossed the line before the goal keeper was able to recover the ball and pretend as if he had recovered the ball before it crossed the line. Both the referee and the linesman were so far behind the play that their line of sight prevented them from making the correct call. Tottenham lost the game.

There was a call by teams and the English Football Association for FIFA to address the issue of goal line technology. FIFA said they would and there have been minor incidents since and rumblings from FIFA on what should be done. So as I watched the game I remembered this issue and wondered what kind of technology would provide the best solution to the problem without compromising the game. My research shows that FIFA thought about using a microchip in the football (intelligent ball) that would relay a signal to a computer indicating the location of the ball on the field, this information is sent to the referee via a vibrating wrist watch. If the ball crosses the goal line a signal is sent to the referee and he can make an informed and correct call on the play.

As it would happen even this most promising technology was shelved by FIFA after trials in a few tournaments. In the end we are still left without a clear way of telling whether or not a ball crosses the goal line when the referee does not have a clear visual on the play and the ball has not obviously crossed the line. So until the governing body of football get their act together we are forever at the mercy of the referee who more often than not misses an important play.