Serie A Welcomes Goal-Line Technology
Serie A is known for its conspiracies, controversies, and outspoken presidents. On Friday, the league has announced that starting next season the introduction of goal-line technology will be used for the first time in Italy. This is an exciting introduction for many fans, officials, but most importantly the team presidents.
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The Barclay’s Premier League has had a successful run-in with the ‘Hawk-Eye’ technology. The World Cup had the use of goal-line technology with no hiccups, so this is clearly going to be the trend for all major leagues going forward. Ultimately, what sort of technology will Serie A be using?
Italians know one thing for sure and that is style so it would be safe to guess they will try to be unique in their technology choice. My guess is that Serie A will use the Goal-Ref Technology developed by Fraunhofer and Select Sport. The German-Danish partnership’s technology has been approved by the International Football Association Board (IFAB).
The Goal-Ref Technology works using a principle of electromagnetic induction within the field of the goal and coils are installed inside the crossbar and posts. The ball is then filled with the electronic circuits and then layered with the synthetic leather. The goal-line has to be completely cleared by the ball and only then will the signal be sent to the referees wrist watch via a vibration and a “Goal” signal.
This is not to say, that the seven-man commission left in charge by the 20 Serie A teams, decide on the technology will choose this form of judgment. There could be a lot of risks and fallouts should the league choose a system that hasn’t proven itself in a full 90-minute game. At this point anybody’s guess is just a reach, but this will be one very important event going into the summer leading up to next season.
Maybe now Adriano Galliani, AC Milan Executive Vice President and CEO, will be able to just sit back and let the game play itself out? That’s probably just wishful thinking. Here is a man who has more on his plate to deal with at Milanello than even Cristiano Ronaldo does lady suitors to choose from in his life. Galliani more than likely still has nightmares of Sulley Muntari’s ‘ghost goal’ back in the 2011-2012 season. The disallowed goal saw Juventus begin their dynasty run in Serie A and the rebirth of a club that spent much of its time in the dark after resurrecting from Serie B.
Two things are for certain, the useless goal-line officials used in Serie A can find themselves new day jobs. Yet, even more important than that is the step forward Serie A is taking with the introduction of a goal-line technology system.
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