LONDON, England, November 25 – Goal-line technology could be used in the English Premier League as early as next season, Football Association (FA) general secretary Alex Horne said on Thursday.
Horne said that tests into various goal-line systems could be completed, and handed in for approval by world football governing body FIFA, in time for the start of the 2012-13 campaign.
“It’s possible we could see (goal-line technology) in the Premier League as early as 2012-13,” Horne told the BBC.
“It’s easy to make mistakes and we’ve all seen examples where the referee and assistant referee can’t see if a ball has crossed the line or not.
“We need to support them in decision-making.”
Nine systems are being tested by a FIFA-employed authority with a final decision on which system might be used due to be made on the eve of next season in July.
Horne added: “Whether there is enough time for the technology to be bought, paid for and put into any league or competition for next season, I’m not sure.
“It would be really tight – but it might be possible for next season.”
One of the systems on trial, ‘Goalminder’, is due to be analysed in front of FIFA’s testers at League One club Rochdale’s Spotland home ground on Thursday night.
FIFA have previously rebuffed all demands to use video technology to resolve contentious refereeing decisions, despite it being successfully implemented in other sports, claiming it would disrupt the free-flowing movement of the game.
However opinion changed after a glaring World Cup blunder in South Africa when a goal scored by England midfielder Frank Lampard against Germany was disallowed.
