Goal-line technology for Europa League final
Tuesday, May 17, 2016
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History will be made at Wednesday's UEFA Europa League Final with goal-line technology (GLT) being used officially for the first time in a UEFA competition game.
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Goal-line technology (GLT) will be used for Wednesday's UEFA Europa League Final.
The Hawk-Eye system, which has also been approved for use at the UEFA Champions League final in Milan and at UEFA EURO 2016 this summer, will be deployed in the game between Liverpool and Sevilla in Basel. The UEFA Executive Committee decided in January to introduce GLT. The GLT system will work in tandem with additional assistant referees (AARs), who will continue to monitor all activity in and around the penalty area.
UEFA's chief refereeing officer Pierluigi Collina said: "Goal-line technology and additional assistant referees complement each other perfectly. The main task of the AARs is not to control the goal line and decide whether a ball has crossed it; rather they are responsible for monitoring everything that is happening in the penalty area overall, aiding the main referee in making important decisions in the box.
"Now, with GLT focused on the goal line, the additional assistants can focus exclusively on the control of other incidents in the penalty area, the most crucial area of the pitch."
The Hawk-Eye system deploys seven cameras per goal, using control software to track the ball within the goal area. Using vision-processing techniques and software, Hawk-Eye indicates whether or not a goal has been scored within one second with a vibration and visual signal on each match official's watch.
The technology is also to be used in the 2016/17 UEFA Champions League, from the play-offs onwards. A decision concerning its implementation in the UEFA Europa League, from the group stage onwards in 2017/18, will be made at a later stage.