Goalline tech contracts out to tender
Revolutionary goal line technology (GLT), due to be in place for next year's World Cup in Brazil, will be put out to tender, world football's governing body Fifa announced on Tuesday.
The decision to introduce the new system, in a bid to reduce controversial refereeing decisons, was taken last July and the technology made its bow at the Fifa Club World Cup in Japan in December.
"The two GLT providers already licensed under Fifa's Quality Programme for GLT, and other GLT providers currently in the licensing process (that must have passed all relevant tests as of today) are invited to submit tenders," Fifa said.
One or more successful GLT systems will be in use for the Confederations Cup in Brazil later this year.
Interested GLT companies will be invited to visit the venues in mid-March, with a final decision due to be confirmed in early April.
Fifa president Sepp Blatter has pushed for goal-line technology ever since he watched Frank Lampard denied a legitimate goal in England's defeat by Germany in the 2010 World Cup.
After successful trials, two systems, Goalref and Hawkeye, have been licensed by Fifa and both were used at the Club World Cup.
Goalref works by using magnetic sensors to determine whether the ball crossed the line, while Hawkeye uses a number of cameras.
Two German firms are also likely to bid, with the tender expected to be awarded by early April.
A Fifa statement said: "The aim is to use GLT in order to support the match officials and to install a system in all stadia, pending the successful installation, and pre-match referee tests."
