FIFA have confirmed that goal-line technology will be featured at the upcoming 2015 Women’s World Cup in Canada.
The developments have meant it will be the first time technology of such nature will be deployed at a major women’s football event, after successful use in the major European leagues – including the Premier League.
Hawk-eye will be used to ensure accurate decisions can be made and officials will be aided, with seven cameras per goalline used to detect whether the ball has crossed the line. It is claimed the system can work to the closest millimetre, and only requires two of the seven cameras to identify the ball to work successfully.
As a result, match officials can be indicated whether a goal has been scored within a second of the action, with vibrations and visual signals alerting watches worn by all officials.
Despite the developments which will also improve the summer World Cup tournament, FIFA have been regularly questioned over the use of artificial pitches at the tournament. An astounding 84 players from across 13 counties made a gender discrimination complaint over the use of synthetic turf, but a legal case has since been dropped.
The Women’s World Cup finals will be only the second ever FIFA event to feature Hawk-eye technology, which was first used during the 2012 FIFA Club World Cup in Japan.
Use of the technology remains to be subject to a final installation test in every stadium featured during the competition, a standard procedure for use of Hawk-eye.
The forthcoming tournament will run from June 6 to July 5, and will be played across Winnipeg, Vancouver, Ottawa, Moncton, Edmonton and Montreal.
