It’s time to rejoice in the beautiful game, and this time we take it to the stadiums in Russia for a festival of football delight. 32 teams, 1 winner, winner takes all. It’s a place where greatness is made, a celebration of skill and spirit, and above all, an excuse to head down to the pub for an extra pint while cheering on your team.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CvtBVChfurw
But this is Absolute Geeks, what has this got to do with football? Calm yourself, maestro, for there is tech beyond Lionel Messi’s left leg that was surely forged in the west from the shards of Narsil. Today, we will be taking a look at goal-line technology and VAR, and how it has impacted arguably the most popular sport in the world.
History of the hawk-eye
Cricket fans will no doubt be more familiar with the hawk-eye than footy peeps. This is because umpires have been using it a lot, especially since 2008 when the ICC incorporated it as part of the Decision Review System.
But whereas cricket has found a way to befriend the tech, football is still struggling to find a way to integrate it into the game. This is because, unlike in cricket, there are 90 minutes excluding injury time, extra time, and penalties, played between two teams, and that means there isn’t all that much time to go upstairs to decide whether it was a corner or a goal kick.
Still, hawk-eye, or goal-line technology (GLT), has been used in the Premier League since 2006, when it was approved by the International Football Association Board, initially for testing purposes only. The camera system made its non-competitive debut at Fulham’s Craven Cottage stadium, moving on to Reading’s Hogwood Park in 2007 for further testing.
Although it was received favourably by the board, it was eventually ruled out in 2008, much to the disappointment of the Premier League, who did seem keen on deploying it.
Lampard’s ‘goal’ at the 2010 World Cup
It was the round of 16, and there was belief in the air, mingled with only the slightest apprehension at facing a rampant German side. Would England be able to summon the spirit that allowed Bobby Moore and co to defeat West Germany 4 -2 and bring the trophy home?
It didn’t start great for the English, with Miroslav Klose and Lukas Podolski having seemingly put the game to bed, before Matthew Upson headed in to give Fabio Cappello’s boys a glimmer of hope. Not long after, with the hopes of an entire nation pushing them forward, the decisive moment arrived.
Frank Lampard’s delicious chip, soaring over the keeper, crashing against the under side of the bar and over the line. The crowd was on its feet, Lampard was leading the celebrations, when the goal was, bizarrely, “disallowed.” For those of us watching it on the telly, it was a good few feet behind the line, even the least keen eye would pick that out, but it was ruled out.
This threw the GLT debate wide open, and after further testing in England, Germany, Hungary, and Italy, it was announced at a special summit in Zurich that the technology could be introduced.
And indeed it was, at the start of the 2013/2014 Premier League season, Hawk-Eye beat GoalRef, Cairos, and GoalControl to become the official provider of GLT at the elite competition.
How does it work?
The concept behind Hawk-Eye is the brainchild of Professor Paul Hawkins, who, in 1999, devised a strategy using specially-placed cameras to improve the decision-making accuracy by match officials in a range of sports.
Images captured by the camera are spun into a 3D image on a computer to display trajectories, accounting for a number of factors such as spin.
It was initially used as a means to analyse decisions in cricket in 2001, mostly for broadcasters to see if an leg-before wicket (LBW) decision was correctly given by an umpire by determining where the ball pitched, where it struck the batsman’s leg, and the projected path of the ball should it have gone past the batsman.
Edin Dzeko was the first player in the Premier League to be awarded a goal using GLT on 18 January 2014 against Cardiff City.
GLT taking out the ‘human’ element from the sport?
Football has always been a game of controversies. Whether it’s referees awarding strange penalties to teams, or disallowing goals for offside, it’s all a part of the action, and it’s what fuels the fan’s passion and desire (when a decision goes against your team, costing you the match, and you put your fist through your telly).
At the same time, I don’t think Frank Lampard would be in a rush to turn it down after what happened to him in 2010. Just think if they could take it ‘upstairs,’ award the goal to make it 2 -2, and England clinch it through an own goal after a comedy of errors in the German penalty box, taking them through to the last eight and…okay I’m going to stop there.
Point is, jury’s still out on whether it does or does not potentially ruin the experience, but if your team stands to gain from it, I don’t see what harm a little HawkEye could do (he was pretty good in Avengers).
What do you think about GLT? Are you for or against it?
