The International Football Association Board (IFAB) has recently announced the implementation of two new pieces of technology designed to aid referees in determining tough-judgment plays, which could lead to less stadium rioting (that’s a judgment call). After 9 months of rigorous testing, IFAB gave the ‘OK’ for Sony-owned Hawk-Eye’s ball tracking system which uses a series of high-speed cameras (six in all) situated, and strategically placed, around the field to triangulate the balls position at any given time. Specialized software is then able to correlate the balls predicted flight-path (even if only 25% of the ball is visible) and calculate its location (down to less than 3cm) by determining the balls pixels in each frame of video provided by at least two of those cameras. The beauty of the system is that the high-speed cameras can track the ball even if it crosses the goal-line or goes out of bounds for only a split second. The fully automated system can render a decision to the referees in around 1 second, providing a detailed graphic of the balls flight-path and field correlation which should satisfy even the most critical of fans (maybe).
Ball sensor concept (via FIFA)
The second piece of technology adopted by IFAB, GoalRef, from the Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Circuits, which uses a series of antennas located inside both vertical goal-posts and top cross-bar that emit a low-intensity magnetic field. A specially designed ball houses a microchip that disrupts the magnetic field around the goal when the ball passes the goal-line. Thus, when the magnetic field change is detected (instantaneously) and analyzed using a computer, there’s no mistake if a goal was made or not. The information is then encrypted and transmitted wirelessly to the referee’s wrist-watch-esq device which lets them know if the ball did indeed cross the goal line.
Testing for both systems included being exposed to extreme heat and cold along with being drenched in a downpour and exposed to high humidity with both functioning flawlessly. Its speculated that the technology will be used officially at Japan’s World-Cup in December of this year (2012) and going global by the 2014 World-cup in Brazil. It is the hope of Hawk-Eye that by implementing this new technology that ‘post-match retributions will become a thing of the past,’ and if that’s the case then I only have one word for you; Gooooooooooooaaaaaaaaaaalllllllllllllll!!!
Cabe
