In 1966, German fans were furious when the controversial right-foot shot by British soccer legend Geoff Hurst was awarded to England. At the time, there was no way to tell if the ball had crossed the line or not. There are so many others called the ‘Ghost Goals’. FIFA has acknowledged these blunders and this year they’re introducing computerized help to aid officials at this year’s World Cup.
Brazil will be the opening World Cup tournament to include an automated goal-line technology checking system, in a sense, a double-checking device that would help end the ‘was it or was it not a goal’ controversies that disrupt matches and cast doubt into the minds of fans.
It is by far the biggest innovation at this year’s World Cup. The introduction of goal-line technology will let the referee know whether a ball has entirely crossed the line or not. In the last two years, the technology has been steadily introduced in various leagues, mainly in Europe.
A German company GoalControl will be testing and introducing this technology in each of Brazil’s 12 World Cup stadiums with its seven cameras stretched around the ground, alert on each goal post, taking 500 pictures every second.
When a player boots a goal, the referee will be able to check his or her smartwatch to see whether ‘Goal’ has flashed up on the screen, which will hopefully put an end to ‘Ghost goals’ and some of the most controversial moments in the game.
This World Cup 2014 will the most tech-savvy event in the history of football. Sony, contributing to this spree, has installed 65-inch screens in and around Brazil’s most popular cities, which will broadcast the events in 4K on giant screens.
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