Ghana won't be able to afford $2m goal-line technology
Controversial: Frank Lampard's 'goal' against Germany at the 2010 World Cup, which wasn't awarded

 

Ghana won't be able to install goal-line technology in its stadiums any time soon as it won't be able to afford the US$2m needed by FIFA to install the technology in the country's four key stadiums. Worldwide plans are underway for the technology to be deployed in stadiums across the globe to ensure that referees are able to detect where the balls has crossed the line. This is to prevent the controversies that surrounds decision of referee during matches when it is not clear whether the ball has crossed the line. But Ghana should not be counting itself among the countries to implement the technology as the country has to fork out huge amounts of money be able to install it for key stadiums in Accra, Kumasi, Sekondi and Tamale alone. That is because Ghana sports authorities will have to pay Sepp Blatter’s organisation $30,000 to install, test and receive the ‘FIFA quality seal’ for Hawk-Eye’s camera-based system, which is expected to cost around $500,000 per ground in total. The amount will swell to about $8m if it is to be installed in all Premier League stadiums across the country. VIDEO: The GoalControl software that could be used in the Premier League Frank Lampard’s ‘goal’ which was not given for England against Germany in the 2010 World Cup is widely credited with sparking  FIFA chief Blatter and the International Football Association Board’s sudden turnaround in their approach to goal-line technology. But some of football’s shareholders believe the realisation FIFA could profit financially may also have been a factor. UEFA president Michel Platini has long been a staunch opponent of goal-line technology, favouring two additional referees instead. Â  He said this week that the cost of installing the technology remains prohibitive. ‘The price for the goal-line technology for UEFA is €53million for five years, so for us it’s very expensive,’ he said. ‘We need to equip all the stadiums and the price is too important for us.’ America’s Major League Soccer has also decided the cost of installing goal-line technology — whether through Hawk-Eye or one of FIFA’s three other licensed providers — is too high. MLS commissioner Don Garber said: ‘It’s very, very expensive. It had us take a step back and pause and try to figure out “is the value of having goal-line technology worth investing millions and millions of dollars for the handful of moments where it’s relevant?” Our view has been that we’re going to wait and see how it  works out.’ The technology is much needed in Ghana where referees have consistently been accused of corruption in some of the decisions they have taken. But financials problems that bedevils the game in the country won't allow the authorities to deploy such cash into the goal-line technology while key developmental issues remain key on the country's football agenda.

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