The German Football League (DFL), the Bundesliga’s governing body, has resolved to introduce goal-line technology in the top flight as of the 2015/16 season. At a historic general assembly in Frankfurt am Main on Thursday, the 18 Bundesliga clubs voted 15-3 in favour of a proposal submitted by FC Bayern, meaning the motion was approved by more than the necessary two-thirds majority of 12 votes.
“I’m delighted our proposal has been approved by a very, very clear majority,” commented FCB President Karl Hopfner, “the whole thing was prepared very professionally by the DFL management and I think this caused a shift in attitudes. The question of cost wasn’t as clear at the previous vote.”
Nine months ago, on 24 March, the assembly rejected goal-line technology when 24 of the 36 clubs in the top two divisions voted against. The second division teams were especially unconvinced for cost reasons, with the Bundesliga vote split equally in a 9-9 tie. In May, FC Bayern put forward a new proposal restricting the technology to the Bundesliga and exempting the second tier.
Hawk-Eye gets the nod
Fifteen of the 18 Bundesliga clubs have now supported the proposal, which was then formally approved by the second division clubs in accordance with DFL statutes. The Hawk-Eye system will now be deployed in all Bundesliga stadiums from next season. The provider of the system was already determined by the DFL prior to the vote following a bid and tender process.
Hawk-Eye, the system originally honed in tennis and now used in the English Premier League, deploys seven stadium roof mounted cameras to monitor the goal areas and minutely track the position of the ball. The system requires just a second to inform the referee in the event of the ball crossing the goal-line in its entirety. A special watch worn by the referee vibrates and blinks with an audio warning delivered to the match official’s headset. The scene can also be graphically recreated on the stadium video screens, as seen at the World Cup in Brazil, where the technology was supplied by the competing GoalControl company.
Topics of this article