The upcoming Bundesliga season will welcome a new addition to the field. Hawk-Eye will provide goal line technology systems for the 18 Bundesliga clubs and across 306 Bundesliga matches per season.
Last December, at a general meeting of the League Association, the Bundesliga clubs voted in favor of implementing the ball-tracking technology from the start of the 2015/16 season and onwards. The Hawk-Eye system is predominantly known for being used at tennis Grand Slams, cricket matches, and at the Olympics. The English Premier League meanwhile has adopted the technology at the start of its 2013/14 campaign.
The decision behind implementing such technology was to avoid future ghost or phantom goals. In football, a ghost goal is a contentious goal usually involving whether or not a ball crossed the goal line. Such goal can be awarded without the ball ever crossing the goal line. It can also be applied when the ball crosses the goal line unseen by the referee. The talk of such technology become more prevalent as questionable decisions haunt the German football league. For example, in 2013, there was Stefan Kiessling's controversial goal in the win over Hoffenheim and in 2014 during the DFB-Pokal final when the referee failed to spot that Mats Hummels' header crossed the line.
The decision behind implementing such technology was to avoid future ghost or phantom goals. In football, a ghost goal is a contentious goal usually involving whether or not a ball crossed the goal line. Such goal can be awarded without the ball ever crossing the goal line. It can also be applied when the ball crosses the goal line unseen by the referee. The talk of such technology become more prevalent as questionable decisions haunt the German football league. For example, in 2013, there was Stefan Kiessling's controversial goal in the win over Hoffenheim and in 2014 during the DFB-Pokal final when the referee failed to spot that Mats Hummels' header crossed the line.
Hawk-Eye uses six precision cameras and one high-speed camera for each goal, all of which are fitted to the stadium’s roof. If the ball comes within the vicinity of the goal, each camera will capture its movement and a software will calculate its exact position in real time from the various angles even if only a small part of the ball is visible. Moreover, as soon as the ball crosses the line, the system will alert the referee via a wrist watch. Bundesliga stadiums are now being fitted with the technology in preparation for the new season.
Hello there! John Eilermann here. It will be interesting to see the Hawk-Eye in action once the Bundesliga season begins. But I’m more interested in how the Reds will perform this season. What do you think? Let me know on Twitter.
