Football’s new goal-line technology to be tested during England-Belgium friendly

London: The much talked about goal-line technology in football would be put to test in an international friendly between England and Belgium at Wembley on June 2.

Independent testers will use Hawk-Eye, a camera-based system, during England`s final game before Euro 2012. However, match officials will have no access to the data, and the tests will have no impact on any contentious goal-line decisions during the match. The first live test of Hawk-Eye`s system was conducted earlier this month during the Hampshire Senior Cup final. There has been increase in calls for utilizing the goal-line technology with number of dodgy decisions marring a number of high profile games last season. The FIFA, the Football Association and Hawk-Eye have discussed for weeks over the goal-line technology, and the extensive discussions have resulted in an England international match being selected for goal-line technology trial. FIFA’s independent appointed testing body, Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology (EMPA) would conduct more tests after England-Belgium friendly. The six cameras per goal that Hawk-Eye requires are expected to be installed at Wembley over the course of the next week. In March, football`s lawmakers the International Football Association Board (IFAB) approved two companies Hawk-Eye and GoalRef to take part in the second phase of goal line technology testing. IFAB are due to make a final decision on the introduction of goal-line technology in early July. GoalRef is also currently undergoing tests, with Denmark`s friendly against Australia in Copenhagen is under consideration for a live test. Both systems are expected to gain approval barring any last-minute problems, and if that happens, any league or competition will be free to introduce the systems if they wish. ANI