It has taken a while for football to catch up with technology but in recent years, the implementation of various goal line technologies (GLT) have helped the sport make giant strides forward.

While human error is something that is almost always going to happen in any sport, tech has significantly minimised the room for it in football. And what GLTs have managed to do is wholly eliminate the human element of the decision and translate it into a computer algorithm.

Since the first time the tech was utilized in the World Cup group stage between France and Honduras, it has been correct every single time, something you hear very rarely when it’s used in reference to new and recently developed technology.

After the debacle during the 2010 World Cup match between England and Germany which led to an outcry from fans and pundits alike, organisations spotted an opportunity to fill the gap and this has led to two main types of technology in which a number of different systems have been developed. One type uses a magnetic field with the other type being the more conventional one that tracks the ball via cameras.

As there are a number of different systems that can be used, each with their differences in use and the kind of technology they utilise, it helps to understand what makes each system tick to get across exactly how they do what they do.

Hawk-Eye

Utilised in the Premier League during the 2013/2014 season, the Hawk-Eye system will be familiar to those who follow the likes of tennis, snooker or cricket which have used the tech for quite some time in incidents that are hard to pick up with the human eye. The technology uses high-speed cameras that are place in strategic places to track the ball which then send data back to a central computer that very quickly, using all the data captured by the various cameras, calculates the movement of the ball and its location on the pitch.

Goal minder Goal-line Technology

Like Hawk-Eye, the Goal minder system uses very high speed cameras to track the ball. But instead of being around the stadium, the cameras are built into the posts of the goal along with the crossbar. Once the ball crosses the line, the referee is instantly sent a visual display to show them if the ball has crossed the line or not.

Cairos GLT Technology System

Adidas and Cairos GLT teamed up to create a technology that doesn’t use a camera system. Instead, it uses a magnetic field to track the ball which is embedded with a sensor. The sensor detects the magnetic field through wires underneath the goal line. All this is monitored by a central computer that then sends a message to the referee when the ball crosses over the goal line.

GoalRef Goal-line Technology

Similar to the Goal Minder GLT, the GoalRef system uses a magnetic field to track the ball crossing the goal-line. It is different to Cairos GLT in that it uses the frame of the goal to detect when the football crosses the line.

Automation

All of the GLTs currently in use are automated. But while there seems to be no issue with the technology doing what it’s supposed to nor an issue with the communication between the systems and the referee, the technology seems to still very much be in its infancy. With the GLT running fairly smoothly to date, it will be interesting to see whether it’s a tech that continues to evolve or whether it faces any problems down the track.

This article was arranged and written by sports journalist John Hawthorne who is a sports columnist for http://www.freebets.com.au/.