Fifa has announced that the 2015 Women’s World Cup in Canada will feature the Hawk-Eye goal-line technology for the first time.
Football’s foremost women’s showpiece will use the goal-line technology in this year’s edition following its successful implementation at previous Fifa tournaments- 2012 Club World Cup, the 2013 Confederation Cup and last year’s Men’s World Cup.
In December, “interested” Fifa goal-line technology partners were invited as part of “an inspection visit to each of the venues in Edmonton, Moncton, Montreal, Ottawa, Vancouver and Winnipeg.”
Fifa said in its statement: “The use of Hawk-Eye in Canada will be subject to a final installation test at each stadium, which is a standard procedure as part of the official certification process defined in the GLT Testing Manual.
“These tests will be conducted by an independent test institute. Prior to the start of every game, the match officials will also carry out their own tests, in line with the operational procedures approved by The International Football Association Board (The IFAB).”
The Hawk-Eye is a camera-based computer system developed in the United Kingdom, with seven cameras positioned as high as possible- up to the underside of the stadium room- used to visually track the path of the ball at all times even when only two of the seven cameras could locate its trajectory. It could also display a record of its statistically most likely path as a moving image.
“The system is millimetre-accurate and indicates whether or not a goal has been scored within one second by a vibration and visual signal on each match official’s watch,” the statement added.
The Hawk-Eye was approved by the IFAB over three years ago and was first at the FIFA Club World Cup in Japan in 2012.
Canada face China in the opening game of the 2015 tournament in Edmonton on Saturday, 6 June. The final is slated for Sunday, 5 July in Vancouver.
