Germany company GoalControl became the fourth supplier of goal-line technology (GLT) to receive its FIFA licence, world football's governing body announced Friday. The GoalControl system utilises 14 high-speed cameras installed around the pitch that continually track the position of the ball in three dimensions - using X, Y and Z co-ordinates - once it nears the goal-line.
Once the ball crosses the goal-line, an encrypted signal is then immediately sent to the referee's watch. FIFA has put the system out to tender and last month announced that two providers - Britain's Hawk-Eye and GoalRef of Germany - had already been licensed under its Quality Programme for GLT. Hawk-Eye, which like GoalControl uses a number of cameras, and Goalref, which works by using magnetic sensors to determine whether the ball crossed the line, both had successful trials and were deployed at the Club World Cup in Japan in December.