1. Clément Richet Eksamens nr: 311618
Synopsis of Innovation Management:
Implementation of the goal-line technology in football

2. Introduction
The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) was founded in 1904 and is the
international governing body for Association Football, responsible for football governance and
organising many competitions, including the FIFA World Cup and the FIFA Confederations Cup. The
organization generated $1.7bn revenue in 20111
and is recognized as a major influence within the
global sporting economy. However, many recent campaigns have drawn attention to the fact that the
global governing body of football still refuses to implement technology within the rules of the sport,
in order to aid match officials to make correct decisions during the course of a match. Recently,
particular attention has been brought on the issue of goal-line technology, which would help an
official determine whether or not the football has crossed to goal line, leading to the phenomenon of
the ‘ghost goal’. Following the FIFA World Cup 2010 in South Africa, and a series of debatable
decisions made by the match officials, FIFA were urged to find a solution. After two years of research
and rigorous tests, two systems have been developed; “GoalRef” and “Hawk-Eye” and the two have
been granted licenses to develop goal-line technology. This paper aims to explain how FIFA brought
innovation to football through implementation of video technology on the goal-line. The first section
of the paper will look at the historical events that have led the pressure on FIFA to adapt the rules of
football to implement modern technology, and indeed the creation of those tools. Secondly, the
paper will examine the process of innovation carried out by FIFA and the implementation of
“GoalRef” and “Hawk-Eye”. Finally, the synopsis will focus on the passionate debate between the
merits of using modern technology in order to improve the standards of modern refereeing, and the
possible damage to the integrity of the sport and the loss of its universality.
Controversies and scandals, a need for technology
Goal, or no goal, that is the question. Every football fan has memories and recollections of games
where this situation occurred; did the ball cross the line? In most cases no one is sure of the answer,
even after watching a replay. The next paragraph will examine three short examples of incidents
involving the England national football team where “ghost goal” situations have occurred. The 1966
FIFA World Cup Final at Wembley Stadium was contested between England and West Germany, and
produced one of the most famous and controversial goals in football history. The score was 2-2 in
extra time when the England striker Geoff Hurst struck a shot toward the German goal; the ball
smacked against the underside of the crossbar, rebounded down and bounced back out. After
consulting with his assistant, Swiss referee Gottfried Dienst awarded the goal. England went on to
win 4-2 but the controversy has never been satisfactorily resolved due to the positioning of the
television cameras; there were no clear cameras on the goal line to determine whether the ball had
indeed crossed the line or not. In one of history’s great ironies, a similar incident happened during
the 2012 FIFA World Cup. In the quarter-final facing England against Germany, England midfielder
Frank Lampard struck a shot that hit the crossbar, which then landed visibly over the goal-line before
bouncing clear. The referee and assistant referees decided not award the goal. Had this goal stood,
 1
Goal-directed Video Metrology, Ian Reid and Andrew Zisserman, PDF file

3. the scores would have been levelled at 2-2. German journalists named this ghost goal as “revenge for
Wembley” in memory of the goal unfairly awarded to England forty-four years earlier. The last
example is very recent. On the 19th
of June 2012, the final match day of the group stage of 2012
UEFA European Championships in a match between England against Ukraine. The ‘ghost goal’ scored
by the Ukraine striker Marko Devic – under the eyes of the UEFA sanctioned fifth official standing
behind the goal – as England defender John Terry cleared the ball from behind his own goal-line.
Nevertheless Ukraine has been denied a legitimate goal. After this last incident, FIFA president Sepp
Blatter called the use of technology “a necessity”.2
Implementation of the goal-line technology
In March 2010, the International Football Association Board (IFAB), responsible for establishing the
laws of the game voted against the use of the video technology in football. A few months later,
following a large number of highly publicised controversial errors made by the referees at the 2010
FIFA World Cup in South Africa (cf Lampard), FIFA agreed to revisit the issue. Jerome Valcke, FIFA
General Secretary, declared himself in favor of the use of video technology in football: “I would say
that it is the final World Cup with the current refereeing system. The game is so fast; the ball is flying
so quickly, we have to help them [the referees].” On the 20th
of October 2010, during its Annual
Business Meeting, the IFAB agreed to re-open the discussions concerning goal-line technology and
crafted the principal characteristics of the future system. It would only be applied to the goal-line and
be used to determine whether a goal has been scored or not. The indication of whether a goal has
been scored would have to be confirmed by the referee within one second and only communicated
to the match officials, rather than to a television audience. A deadline was set up to the end of
November 2010 for companies to present their technologies to FIFA. The deadline was extended to
July 2011 because none of the proposed technology was deemed to have successfully met the
criteria set out by the IFAB. During the summer of 2011, FIFA selected the nine companies that met
the requirements to have a first testing phase from September to December 2011. Each system has
been scrutinized and analysed using pass or fail criteria that included a goal indication to the
referee’s watch and a static and dynamic accuracy test of greater than 90%. The results of this first
phase of tests were presented during the IFAB meeting in March 2012. FIFA established a shortlist of
companies that could proceed to a second testing phase from March to June 2012. Only two
technologies were approved; the Hawk-Eye system, already implemented in international tennis and
cricket tournaments, which uses optical recognition with cameras to track the ball and predict the
flight path and GoalRef using a magnetic field with a microchip integrated into the ball to identify a
goal situation. The aim of this second phase of testing was to assess the reliability and accuracy of
both systems through the use of four different elements: field tests (numerous shot tests in a
stadium), training sessions (simulated scenarios on a field), laboratory tests and live professional
matches (where the technology was monitored by the experts so the referees did not had access to
it). On the 5th
of July 2012, the IFAB took the historical decision of approving the introduction of goal-
line technology in football. The two systems, Hawk-Eye and GoalRef, after successfully completing
the different tests started in August 2011, were able to apply to become FIFA goal-line technology
2
“Sepp Blatter confident of positive goal-line technology vote” BBC News. 20 June 2012.

4. licensees. After signing the contracts with FIFA, the manufacturers have the official authorization to
sell and install their technology to whoever requests it (Football Federations, leagues or
competitions). The first official use of the goal-line technology was set up at the 2012 FIFA Club
World Cup in Japan. The tournament played from the 6th to the 12th of December 2012 brought
together the champion clubs from each of the six continental confederations of the current year. The
2012 tournament was won by Copa Libertadores de América champions Sport Club Corinthians
Paulista from São Paulo, Brazil. The final objective is to implement one of the two technologies at the
2014 FIFA World Cup, hosted by Brazil. Some leagues have already declared their interest for using
the goal-line technology. Alex Horne, the general secretary of the The Football Association (FA), the
governing body of football in England, raised the possibility of implementing it in the Premier League
(the top tier of English football) as early as January 2013. However the delay needed for licensing the
two systems and installing it in the stadiums makes it impossible. However, the FA is confident that
everything will be ready at the start of the 2013-2014 season. The strategy of innovation undertaken
by FIFA can be classified as the Rocket model. The first phase was to search what could be the ideal
technology to assist the referees, and then the second phase was the selection of the viable systems
(Hawk-Eye and GoalRef), the third was the implementation at the 2012 FIFA Club World Cup in Japan
and finally in the future months FIFA hopes to capture the benefits from this innovation by
eliminating the “ghost goals”.
Goal-line Technology: a game changer for better or worse?
Despite being continuously requested by players, managers and fans, FIFA waited July 2012 for
implementing the goal-line technology (GLT). At the beginning of 2010, FIFA President Sepp Blatter
was outlining the mains reasons why the technology could not be used in football3
. In the point of
view of Mr Blatter, it would create issues with the nature of the game. This argument remains used
by the opponents to the GLT. The universality of football means that the same game at whatever
level is played with the same rules. The use of goal-line technology at the top level only would
undermine it. We can imagine that if the system is effective, the top professional leagues in Europe
will be all expected to bring in the technology. But the implementation of such a system is very costly
(estimated at about £250,000 for Hawk-Eye and £150,000 for GoalRef4
). Therefore we can
legitimately wonder if it is fair that the lower divisions in the professional leagues will not be able to
beneficiate from it. Secondly, there is the suggestion that goal-line technology would ruin the flow of
the game. Unlike others sports (Tennis) where the video is used; football does not constantly stop for
pauses and should be interrupted as little as possible. But with the use of GLT, the referee would
have to stop the game for a decision that breaks the run of play. Concerning this argument, FIFA
guaranteed that the referee would be able to take a decision within a second following the
controversial action. Thirdly, what if a goal is awarded using the GLT but the player who scores is
offside? In this scenario, a combination of human error (offside) and goal-line technology would lead
to an unfair decision. This situation could create more controversy. Why not going back to the
beginning of the entire play and search for any transgressions of the law? Finally, the last argument
against the use of goal-line technology is the possibility that if the technology is introduced, it would
3
Blatter Sepp. 2010. “FIFA’s position on technology in football”. FIFA.com. March 11 2010.
4
Goal-line technology battle goes to shoot-out. BBC.uk, Will Smale, 28 November 2012.

5. “open the door” to calls for other video technologies, about offside and penalty situations for
example, these decisions having also a high effect on the outcome of a match.
There is one main argument in favor of goal-line technology: justice. As we have seen in the first part
of the summary, there are tons of examples where teams have wrongly lost matches because the
referees were given goals that did not cross the line or disallowed goals that should have been
awarded. If the goal technology can ensure correct decisions from the referees, then it should be
implemented. Also, GLT has a major support of the football players. In 2010, 90% of the captains of
teams playing the Europa league claimed they wanted goal-line technology to be introduced.5
More
generally, people playing, watching and managing football are asking for GLT. Also the tests
organized by the FIFA since two years are showing that the two systems Hawk-Eye and GoalRef are
working perfectly. Finally a lot of sports already took the turn of the technology to assist the referee
(Tennis, Rugby). The controversy and continuity in these sports has been less important than the
clarity the technology provided so we can conclude that the goal-line technology would be a huge
benefit for the football.
5
Goal line technology - theweek.co.uk
http://www.theweek.co.uk/football/46651/goal-line-technology-game-changer-better-or-worse#ixzz2FK3jc7Yh

6. Conclusion
The primary aim of this summary about innovation management was to analyse the implementation
of the goal-line technology in football. Following pressure to resolve the unsatisfactory state of
modern football, and in order to prevent the “ghost goal” from occurring, FIFA undertook the
process of radical innovation by creating a process to integrate GLT within global football. The
decision by the IFAB to approve research into video technology started a revolution; and it was only
until the very latest and best technology was developed that the systems were installed in the
stadiums across the world. However, FIFA have already protected themselves against possible
problems or future failures by taking out large insurance policies with the technology firms. Finally,
even if GoalRef and Hawk-Eye were the only licensed manufacturers, other competitors may still
have their systems approved by FIFA in the future, which will drive down pricing and make the
product more universally available. Finally, the question of which company will triumph in the goal-
line marketplace could ultimately become as controversial as the issue of “ghost goals”, as the
financial rewards will be significant.

7. References
 Financial report 2011, 62nd FIFA Congress
www.fifa.com/mm/document/affederation/administration/01/60/80/10/fifafinanzberichteinternet.p
df
 Goal-directed Video Metrology, Ian Reid and Andrew Zisserman
 Top 10 ghost goals. Skysports
http://www.skysports.com/interactive/top_tens_story/0,25722,15881_7595564,00.html
 World Cup 2010: Fifa evades technology questions. BBC News. 28 June 2010
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/world_cup_2010/8766423.stm
 Euro 2012: Uefa admits Ukraine were deprived of a goal against England. The Guardian. 20
June 2012
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2012/jun/20/euro-2012-uefa-goalline-technology
 Sepp Blatter confident of positive goal-line technology vote. BBC News. 20 June 2012
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/18520916
 Goal-line technology – Getting it right. WIPO magazine. August 2010
http://www.wipo.int/wipo_magazine/en/2010/04/article_0001.html
 IFAB agrees to re-examine goal-line technology. FIFA.com October 2010
http://www.fifa.com/aboutfifa/organisation/ifab/media/news/newsid=1320761/index.html
 IFAB extends Goal Line Technology testing. FIFA.com March 2011
http://www.fifa.com/aboutfifa/organisation/ifab/news/newsid=1392782/index.html
 Goal-line technology testing process continues. FIFA.com May 2011
http://www.fifa.com/aboutfifa/organisation/ifab/media/news/newsid=1428963/index.html
 Fifa to run tests on nine goal-line technology systems this autumn. Guardian.co.uk July 2011
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2011/jul/21/fifa-goal-line-technology
 IFAB approve two companies for next phase of GLT tests FIFA.com March 2012
http://www.fifa.com/aboutfifa/organisation/ifab/media/news/newsid=1593294/index.html
 Second GLT test phase details confirmed. FIFA.com April 2012
http://www.fifa.com/aboutfifa/organisation/ifab/media/news/newsid=1621485/index.html
 IFAB Approval of Goal-line Technology Hailed as "Momentous Day" worldfootballinsider.com July 2012
http://worldfootballinsider.com/Story.aspx?id=35226

8.  2012 FIFA Club World Cup gets underway on Thursday. whitecapsfc.com December 2012
http://www.whitecapsfc.com/news/2012/12/2012-fifa-club-world-cup-gets-underway-thursday
 FIFA Club World Cup: GLT project agreements. FIFA.com November 2012
http://www.fifa.com/clubworldcup/news/newsid=1954433/index.html
 Goal-line technology moves closer after Fifa authorises two systems. BBC.uk October 2012
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/20040048
 Blatter, Sepp. 2010. “FIFA’s position on technology in football”. In FIFA.com. March 11 2010.
http://www.fifa.com/aboutfifa/federation/president/presidentialcolumn/news/newsid=1179851.html
.
 Goal-line technology would harm football. theroar.com Neville Darangwa, September 2012.
http://www.theroar.com.au/2012/09/30/goal-line-technology-would-harm-football/
 Use of goal line technology in football is overdue, and can only lead to benefits. Debatewise.org
http://debatewise.org/debates/179-use-of-goal-line-technology-in-football-is-overdue-and-can-only-
lead-to-benefits/
 Goal line technology - a game changer for better or worse?
http://www.theweek.co.uk/football/46651/goal-line-technology-game-changer-better-or-
worse#ixzz2FK3jc7Yh