Goal line technology approved for this season's UEFA Champions League and Europa League finals
UEFA have confirmed the use of goal-line technology in the Champions League and Europa League finals. UEFA made the decision at a meeting of their Executive Committee in the headquarters in Nyon, while also appointing Theodore Theodoridis as the interim UEFA General Secretary, since Gianni Infantino was elected as FIFA President.
UEFA had previously announced that the 2016 European Championships would be the organization’s first effort at implementing the complex technology at a tournament level. Similarly, the playoff stages of next season’s Champions League will also have the technological aid to referees.
However Europe’s governing body has decided that the showpiece finals of their premier club competitions – the 2015/16 Champions League final in Milan and the 2015/16 Europa League final in Basel will have the goal-line technology implemented, bringing forward their plans by a month.
Goal-line technology debuted in Europe with the Premier League in the 2013/14 season, while FIFA also used in the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. The Europa League final on 18th May will be the first time that a UEFA tournament has the technology, while the Champions League final 10 days later on 28th May will repeat the feat.
Theodore Theodoridis appointed as Infantino’s replacement
Gianni Infantino’s election as the President of FIFA left UEFA with a vacuum at it’s very top, with Michel Platini suspended as well. Prime on the UEFA Executive Committee’s agenda was the appointment of Infantino’s successor, with Theorodiris being a shoe-in as he was Infantino’s deputy since 2010.
However, UEFA decided to hold off on announcing elections for President, as they chose to wait for the Court of Arbitration for Sport’s (CAS) decision on Michel Platini’s appeal against his ban. Both Platini and Blatter were suspended for an undisclosed payment of 2 million Swiss francs, although the duo cited a verbal agreement as their defence.
The spectre of corruption refuses to leave FIFA’s governing bodies, with many noting that Infantino’s close association with Sepp Blatter will result in a lack of any fundamental change. UEFA can have the same charge levelled at them, since Theodoridis is the son-in-law of the VP of Olympiakos, who are involved in a match-fixing scandal in Greece.
In addition, UEFA has set a deadline for the appointment of a female representative on the Executive committee, with the elected postion to be filled by the 19th of April this year.