A decision has been made at the DFL headquarters in Frankfurt, on Thursday, from the start of the 2015-16 the Bundesliga will have goal-line technology.

President Dr. Reinhard Rauball said, "The clubs in the Bundesliga approved the introduction. That's a step forward for German football, it is an aid to the referee so that the games are error-free."

Initially, the Bundesliga and 2.Bundesliga clubs had met in March to decide the fate of goal-line technology, with 24 of the 36 clubs voting against it. However, after high profile decisions such as Mats Hummels' disallowed DFB Pokal final goal, it will be a welcome aid to referees. The meeting was called for Bayern Munich, who were BVB's opponents in last year's cup final.

This time, it was only Bundesliga clubs that met to vote on the issue. It was almost unanimous, as fifteen of the eighteen clubs backing it's introduction and just three were against it. Schalke, Eintracht Frankfurt and Paderborn are reported to be the clubs that didn't want the system to be installed. The Hawk-Eye System, which is used in the Barclays Premier League, won the tender and it is expected to be in use from next season.

Seven cameras focus upon each goal, with the system costing in the region of €150,000. Klaus Allofs, Wolfsburg director who voted against it's implementation in March, was much more positive this time: "On the one hand, we now know the economic environment, which we believe is reasonable," said Allofs, who believes the technology is only be the first step: "It is also reasonable to assume that it is just the beginning, the impetus to go further in terms of video evidence within the games to resolve more controversial scenes is there."

Here's how the technology will work. (Bundesliga.com)

"We are delighted with this clear decision," said DFL CEO Andreas Rettig. "In March, we were not ready, there were some question marks. The refusal in March had something good for us, because otherwise such a good result today would not have materialised." The CEO then went into the financial details, "We were able to achieve an excellent rate, under 8000 euros per Bundesliga game.

"FIFA have a tolerance of 1.5 centimetres, but from the current provider it is less than one centimetre," he finished by saying, "We thank you for this impressive vote, and are pleased that we can start the new season with Hawk-Eye as of July."

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About the author
Jonathan Walsh
SoccerSight IFA commentator. VAVEL deputy editor-in-chief/VAVEL Bundesliga editor-in-chief and writer. Email: [email protected]