SOCCER: Radio, not video, could be the best way to decide if the ball crosses the goalline. Inspired by Geoff Hurst's famous goal in the 1966 World Cup final, a German company has developed technology that tracks the ball and instantly tells the referee if a goal is scored. A tiny radio chip sewn into the ball transmits 2,000 signals a second to a network of aerials hidden in the floodlights or under the stadium roof.
Oliver Braun of Cairos Technologies, which devised the technology, says this allows a computer to pinpoint the ball's position to within 1.5 centimetres anywhere on the pitch. The technology also works in 3D so it can detect when the ball crosses the line in the air. The system does away with one of the strongest arguments against using video evidence - the time taken for referees to stop the game and make up their minds. When the computerised tracking system registers a goal, it immediately sends a message to a vibrating sleeve worn by the referee.
Braun says: "No one has to sit and watch and push a button if it's a goal or not. The information is beamed only to the ref, not to the fans or media. It's still the decision of the ref but he is more sure the decision is correct."
Similar chips in shin-guards can track the players and help judge everything from offsides and if the wall is far enough away at free-kicks to whether the goalkeeper moved off his line before a penalty.
The system is undergoing final testing at the Fraunhofer Institute near Nuremberg. Braun says it will be ready in time for the start of next season. "The idea came from one of our shareholders who is a crazy football fan and was always angry about how you guys (in England) won the World Cup in '66."
Cairos could install the system at top football clubs for free and then sell the information gathered to the media and fans as virtual replays.
Several Premiership teams have expressed interest in using the data to coach players.
The FA's spokesman Andrin Cooper said the International Football Association Board would discuss the technology at its next meeting on February 26th. The board comprises the four British football associations and FIFA. FIFA has four votes on behalf of all its member associations, and the British member associations each have one. For a proposal to succeed, it must receive six votes.
The sports goods manufacturer adidas has denied reports it has already developed the ball that is planned to be demonstrated on February 26th, which is expected to contain a microchip that makes the ball bleep when it crosses the goalline. It did, however, confirm FIFA had approached it to do so and confirmed it is working on designing and manufacturing the ball.
Adidas also denied reports the ball could be used in Cardiff for the League Cup final at the Millennium stadium the day after its demonstration. "It certainly won't be," said the company's spokesman Neil Hopkins. "There is a FIFA meeting next week in which it is on the agenda but it still has to be passed by the international board before anything is done."
FIFA admitted special measures to enable the prospective adidas ball - or any other - to be used in the League Cup final are unlikely. FIFA's president Sepp Blatter has long opposed the use of video replays but, as well as ensuring the flow of the game is unaffected, radio technology would alleviate other problems video technology could cause.
One of the most appealing aspects of the radio technology is that the presence of players surrounding the ball, and the angle of view, would not affect the outcome of a decision, unlike in video technology.
George Cumming, a former referee and member of the international board for the past 15 years, is concerned about the knock-on effects video technology would have, claiming it would "dilute the referees' authority".
