Hawkeye and FIFA to talk Goal Line Technology at Soccerex Global Convention

With goal line technology about to transform the game of football as we know it and with Hawkeye at the forefront of that transformation, pill Soccerex is excited to announce that the Inventor of Hawkeye, Paul Hawkins and Head of the General Secretary’s Office of FIFA, Christoph Schmidt will be participating in a special Goal Line Technology conference session at the Soccerex Global Convention in Rio de Janeiro, 24-28 November.

In July, the IFAB approved the introduction of goal line technology in football unanimously approving in principle both companies that took part in Test Phase 2: GoalRef and Hawk-Eye. This approval was subject to a final installation test at each stadium before the systems can be used in “real” football matches, in accordance with the FIFA Quality Programme for GLT.” The decision was then agreed after discussing the various challenges it would bring to stadia infrastructure and the cost to the worlds different football authorities. Here a group of experts will analyse the impact its introduction will have on football, by assessing how it has been put into action elsewhere in the world of sport before moving on to the planned implementation and the ramifications for football’s different stakeholders.

As Head of the General Secretary’s Office, Christoph Schmidt is the project owner of the IFAB, meaning all procedures, ideas, requests and changes to the Laws of the Game are handled by his office.  They were responsible for the whole testing phase including pre-tests (2010/11), test phase I (2011) and test phase II (2012). He will now focus on the licensing and certification procedure as well as the implementation into FIFA’s own competitions like the FIFA Club World Cup Japan 2012.

Hawk-Eye Innovations Ltd, recently acquired by Sony, was developed in 1999 and is at the forefront of sports technology and broadcasting. The Hawk-Eye system works by placing numerous high frame rate cameras around the stadium focusing on each goal mouth.  The camera’s  will monitor the ball’s trajectory which will recognise if the ball has crossed the line, if so, it will send a message to the referee in less than a second with the decision which also offers video replays.

Paul Hawkins, Inventor of Hawkeye had this to say on the announcement:

“We are extremely excited to be attending the Soccerex Global Convention and to show the footballing world how the Hawkeye system will benefit the game. It has been a long journey for football to get to this stage. To speak alongside FIFA is a huge honour and will allow us to show the global football industry how the Hawkeye system will improve the game of football.”

Commenting on the announcement, Soccerex CEO Duncan Revie said:

“We are delighted to welcome Hawkeye and FIFA to the Soccerex Global Convention, the decision by IFAB to include goal line technology in football is a huge development for the game. This panel will offer the first exclusive opportunity for the football world to learn how technology will affect football and confirms the importance of our world class conference programme.”

For further information about this event please call +44 (0)208742 7100 or visit www.soccerex.com/global.