ZURICH: Goal-line technology system Cairos was licensed by FIFA yesterday as the third candidate for use at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.
Cairos, a German system using magnetic field technology, joins Hawk-Eye and GoalRef as officially approved projects.
“The Cairos GLT System met all of the demands placed on it,” the company said in a statement.
Testing was done at two German stadiums in December, one week after Hawk-Eye and GoalRef were installed at two stadiums at the FIFA Club World Cup in Japan. The systems were never needed for any decisive calls at the seven-team tournament.
FIFA’s rule-making panel approved goal-line technology for use in competitive matches last July after President Sepp Blatter insisted it must be installed at the World Cup.
Last week, FIFA invited bidders to compete for the World Cup and 2013 Confederations Cup contract.
FIFA said it aims to choose the winner in April. A fourth system has also completed testing and could join the race.
Cairos, which began developing its system in 2000, resumes its longstanding rivalry with Hawk-Eye, a British camera-based system successfully used in tennis and cricket.
Both were evaluated — and rejected — by FIFA when goal-line technology was first considered several years ago.
Blatter was originally opposed to giving technological aids for referees, but he changed his mind after seeing England’s Frank Lampard have a clear goal disallowed against Germany in a 2010 World Cup second-round match.
Germany and England will compete again for the World Cup contract.
GoalRef also uses magnetic fields and is a collaboration of companies from Germany and Denmark. The fourth contender is also German, but FIFA has said it will not identify that candidate before it is given a license.
Ratifies Chinese bans
Meanwhile, FIFA said yesterday that it banned 58 people from worldwide involvement in the game following an investigation by Chinese authorities into match-fixing and bribery allegations.
FIFA said it acted after the disciplinary committee of China’s Football Association (CFA) gave five-year bans to 25 people having earlier this month handed life bans down to 33 people in the wake of China’s biggest ever match-fixing scandal.
Those hit by the first wave of CFA bans included former heads of the Football Association Nan Yong and Xie Yalong, who were previously handed jail sentences for taking bribes, and Xu Hong, the newly installed head of east China club Dalian Aerbin.
FIFA said it accepted the findings of the Chinese investigation and would implement the bans across the world.
The sanctions come after a two-year Chinese judicial investigation into incidents of match fixing in the 1990s and early 2000s.
FIFA said in a statement that the CFA had notified it of its findings and sanctions and also “emphasized its on-going commitment to stamping out all forms of match-fixing and corruption in the game.”
Corruption in football has undermined the reputation of China’s flagship Super League and several recent high-profile arrivals such as Didier Drogba have returned to Europe.
FIFA awards third goal-line technology license
