Sepp Blatter, the President of FIFA, announced Tuesday that goal line technology was no longer an alternative but a "necessity."
The response came after a seemingly blown call by the referees in Tuesday's match between England and Ukraine. In the 62nd minute, Ukraine's Marco Devic shot a ball over English keeper Joe Hart. The ball seemed to pass the line just as defender John Terry kicked it out. While the refs did not call the play, replays indicated that the ball had crossed the line and should have been deemed a good goal.
Had it counted, the co-hosts would have tied the score 1-1, but the 1-0 loss eliminated them from the tournament.
A five referee system is currently being implemented in the Euro 2012. The system includes a referee, two linesmen, and two assistants standing next to the goal.
Blatter has been actively pursuing goal line technology and FIFA is slated to decided on July 5 whether to accept the five referee system and either of the goal line technologies currently being employed in England and Denmark. The systems are known as GoalRef and Hawk-Eye.
Hawk-Eye is a British-designed computerized system based on the principle of triangulation and uses visual images and timing data provided by six high-speed video cameras at different locations around the area of play.
Software calculates the ball's location for each frame by identifying the pixels that correspond to the ball through at least two cameras.
According to mirrorfootball, the system would be television-friendly, giving fans at home - and in the stadium - visual "proof" of the validity of the decision. The high-speed cameras will track the ball even if they only cross the line for a fraction of a second.
On the negative side however, the software can only track the ball and predict the flight path as long as 25 per cent of it is visible. If a goalkeeper buries the ball under his body, the system would not be able to give decision.
The other system, GoalRef, is a joint Danish-German project, which utilizes magnetism to determine whether or not the ball has crossed the line.
Under this system, electronic probes are attached between the inner ball and the inside of its leather outer lining. Sensors are also installed on the inside of the posts and crossbar and would send out bursts of electronic waves when the ball has crossed the line. The signal would be sent out in quicker than one tenth of a second. The system is far cheaper than Hawk-Eye.
Even if FIFA decided to implement either technology, there will still be opposition from UEFA President Michel Platini who has stated that goal line technology would be a mistake.
Goal line incidents have happened over the years. Two years ago in the 2010 World Cup, England's Frank Lampard took a long range blast that bounced off the crossbar past the line and then out. The linesman did not call the play as a goal and play resumed. Had the goal counted the match would have been tied 2-2. Instead, England went on to lose 4-1 to Germany in the match.
More infamously, in the 1966 World Cup Final, Geoff Hurst's shot hit the underside of the crossbar and bounced down without ever crossing the line. Referees deemed it a good goal even though it was not and England took a 3-2 lead in a match they would eventually win 4-2.