TOYOTA, Japan -- The head of the company which makes the Hawk-Eye system -- one of two goal-line technology systems being used at the Club World Cup -- says experience gives the product an edge over the competition.
Hawk-Eye is already used for tracking balls in tennis and cricket. For football, its system uses seven high-speed cameras set up at different angles at each goal to calculate whether the ball has crossed the goal-line or not.
It is being used for Club World Cup games at Toyota Stadium, while GoalRef, a magnetic-field-based system developed by German company Fraunhofer, will be deployed at Yokohama Stadium.
"Our experience that we have consistently delivered over the years makes us a brand that people can trust," Hawk-Eye managing director Stephen Carter said Saturday. "Our system has been installed in more than 230 stadiums worldwide over a period of 12 years."
Another advantage of Hawk-Eye, Carter says, is that it doesn't interfere with the field of play. GoalRef uses magnetic sensors in the goal posts and the crossbar to track a special ball.
"We don't need to interfere with the field of play in any way," Carter said. "It's a totally passive system."
Like GoalRef, the technology of Hawk-Eye can allow an outcome to be delivered within one second.
Before each match, officials will test the system is working in both goals. The referee will continue to have full autonomy in making any final decision during the match, using goal-line technology as an additional aid.
The data from the Club World Cup will be used to help FIFA decide, by the end of March, which technology it will use for the six venues at the 2013 Confederations Cup in Brazil. Now all the tournament needs is a controversial goal.
"It would be nice to have a phantom goal at some point in the tournament so we can prove how well our system works," Carter said.
FIFA decided to introduce both systems after they won "unanimous" support from the International Football Association Board panel. FIFA president Sepp Blatter was a member of the IFAB panel.
Blatter was initially opposed to the idea of using goal-line technology but changed his stance two years ago when he saw England denied a clear goal by midfielder Frank Lampard against Germany at the 2010 World Cup.
Two days later, Blatter said FIFA must reopen the debate, though insisted it must involve only goal-line decisions. Video replay remains off limits for judgment calls, such as penalties or offside.
