Refs to have final say on goal-line technology

New system to be tested before each Club World Cup game.

TOKYO: Referees can reject the use of goal-line technology (GLT) or even overrule it in the Club World Cup, which starts today in Japan, according to a senior Fifa official.

Two different GLT systems - Hawk-Eye and GoalRef - are to be used in the eight-game competition when continental kings of club football, including Chelsea and Brazil’s Corinthians, will battle for world supremacy.

“The referee has the final word when it’s about the goal-line technology system,” Fifa Secretary General Jerome Valcke told a news conference in Tokyo before adding that referees at these competitions will test the system 90 minutes before each game to see if it is working to their satisfaction.

“If he has any doubt and if this doubt cannot be corrected by the provider who is on the site, then he has the right to say, ‘sorry, guys, I don’t think I can rely on the system’. Again, the referee is the most important person. He’s the one who’s making the final decision and he has to keep this right for the final decision.”

Fans have called for years for the football world to embrace technology aimed at eliminating human error, citing its use in other sports including tennis and cricket.

“It’s a big day because it’s the first time that the technology will be used officially in a game or games. Up to now, it was just experimental.”

Published in The Express Tribune, December 6^th, 2012.