Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore believes goalline technology can be implemented for the 2012/13 season. Photograph: Tom JenkinsThe Premier League will discover in March whether Fifa are to sanction the introduction of goalline technology, with the chief executive, Richard Scudamore, confident the league will then be "at the absolute forefront" in implementing it in time for the 2012-13 season.
Scudamore has long advocated the introduction of cameras in the goalmouth to determine whether the ball has crossed the line in a bid to avoid controversies such as Frank Lampard's 'ghost goal' for England against Germany at last summer's World Cup, or Chelsea's equaliser against Tottenham Hotspur in April. The Fifa president, Sepp Blatter, had previously been opposed to the use of such technology, though his stance has shifted more recently and the governing body is expected to approve the scheme in the spring.
"In March, Fifa will look at the technology," Scudamore said. "I hope there will be multiple suppliers who meet Fifa's criteria, and I would hope Fifa approve the suppliers who can do the job and then we can talk to them about putting them in Premier League grounds. It won't be a test; once it's in, it's in. It has got to work before we put it in, of course – we are not going to risk our competition on stuff that doesn't work – and the signal has to be instant and accurate, but the technology people have to convince Fifa of that. Once Fifa approve those companies then we, the Premier League, will be in the absolute forefront of any move to bring it in."
The Premier League and its members have been in favour of goalline technology in principle for more than three years, with frustration having built up since at Fifa's reluctance to pursue the issue. However, should it be implemented, it seems likely that calls to widen the potential use of cameras and replays to assist match officials in calls for penalties and offside decisions will escalate.
"That debate will continue," said Scudamore, who was in Hong Kong for the Barclays Asia Trophy, a pre-season tournament that could be mirrored with similar events in the United States and Africa in future. "But a ball crossing a line is an absolute matter of fact. Anything else is a matter of opinion; whether it was a foul or not or whether it was inside or outside the box. There is so much more subjectivity. Why we are so overwhelmingly supportive of goalline technology is because the answer is yes or no."
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