Non-Invasive Soccer Goal Line Technology: An Executive Summary

Andrew Phan ID#24969581

E190W Hong

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Introduction: The Problem of Current Goal Detection Systems

Arguably the most culturally significant sport in the world, soccer attracts millions of

watchers worldwide with every World Cup. A popular sport like soccer deserves the utmost level

of attention and detail in ensuring that goals are legitimate; unfortunately, such is not the case.

Human referees are unable to consistently make correct calls, particularly when the soccer ball

has completely crossed the goal line to count as a point for the opposing team. While

experienced referees are hired for every major tournament, referees are only human; other

existing backup methods of rule enforcement have their own set of flaws. There is a potential

solution to this problem that has had promising real-world results.

Solution: A Visual-Based Goal Line System

The solution in question is a visual-based system that detects the ball in real time. Six

cameras are stationed around the soccer field in key positions, and a central unit processes

incoming data from the six cameras to detect where the soccer ball is. This allows for precise ball

tracking to ensure the ball has crossed the goal line for a goal to be legitimate.

Supporting Argument: Advantages Over Preexisting Systems

The goal line system directly solves flaws of preexisting systems. While referees are still

needed for other situations, the goal line system can track the soccer ball in situations that the

referee cannot. An instant-replay system involving recording potential goals with cameras work

sufficiently; however, if a goal is contested, the game has to be paused for judges to review the

recording, slowing the pace of the game and potentially annoying both audiences and players.

The proposed system acts in real time, so no pausing is required to confirm or reject a goal. A
third preexisting system would be adding sensors into the ball and goalposts that confirm if a

goal has been made; however, this system would require modifications to the ball, which can

change its weight and behavior when kicked. The goal line system is non-invasive, so the ball

and the playing field are unchanged from traditional setups.

Supporting Argument: Real World Experimental Data

The system has been tested in experiments to judge its accuracy, with impressive results. The

experimental code has yet to be optimized. With some further work on the code, the system

could be further improved to be even more accurate with its ball detection.

The goal line system was also tested during real matches and performed impressively. In

order to obtain real world results, the system went through nineteen matches in the Italian Serie

A Championship. Out of thirty-three goals that were made throughout those matches, the system

was able to correctly identify all thirty-three of them. The system also identified one false

positive, recognizing the pattern of a ball on a player’s shorts and mistaking it as the actual

soccer ball. As mentioned above, the system can be further optimized so that these errors do not

happen.

Conclusion: Final Thoughts

Soccer is the world’s most popular sport; however, it is plagued with referees making ball

calls on whether a goal has been made. This problem can be solved with a camera-based system

that tracks the ball in real time, ensuring that any goals that occur are legitimate. The system has

already been tested, both in experiments and in real world matches, with promising results.

Given further optimizations of the system code, this goal line system could be the future go-to

solution for confirming goals in professional soccer matches.

 References

[1] P. Spagnolo, M. Leo, P. Mazzeo, M. Nitti, E. Stella and A. Distante, "Non-invasive Soccer

Goal Line Technology: A Real Case Study", 2013 IEEE Conference on Computer Vision

and Pattern Recognition Workshops, 2013. Available: 10.1109/cvprw.2013.147

[Accessed 2 November 2019].