Technology would be perfect - Hawkins

Goal-line technology would be 100% accurate and effectively free for Premier League clubs, the inventor of the Hawk-Eye system has claimed.

Paul Hawkins, managing director of Hawk-Eye Innovations, gave a cautious welcome to FIFA president Sepp Blatter's announcement that the issue of goal-line technology would be revisited in July, just four months after FIFA had kicked it into touch.

He said the spin-off from sponsorship would more than cover the £125,000 to £250,000 cost per ground of installing and running the system.

Hawkins said: "We would install it free of charge in every Premier League ground if we could have the rights to sell the sponsorship.

"That just highlights that it is commercially viable and that the cost would not be an issue."

Blatter has suggested that Hawk-Eye may not be the answer because it is based on cameras and "cameras can't see everything", but Hawkins rejected that.

He added: "It's 100% accurate. Hawk-Eye has been independently tested by the Premier League and the International FA Board, and shown to work in all instances tested."