Goalline technology is unlikely to be introduced in the Barclays Premier League until the start of the 2009-10 season. Although trials have been encouraging, the system has yet to receive approval from the International Football Association Board (IFAB), the sport’s law-making body.

The debate for technology to determine whether a ball has crossed the goalline was reopened on Saturday when Stephen Hunt scored the winner in Reading’s victory over Sunderland at the Madejski Stadium. Craig Gordon, the Sunderland goalkeeper, said the ball did not cross the line.

Roy Keane, the Sunderland manager, said that Steve Rubery, the assistant referee, “must have very good eyesight,” to have awarded the goal. Television replays proved Rubery right.

The Premier League believes there are about ten similar instances every season and it has been using Reading’s training ground, Hogwood Park, for trials of a version of the HawkEye system used in tennis and cricket. A camera is placed on each goalpost and two more in the back of the net.

The League will present the results to the IFAB in the new year. HawkEye could cost up to £50,000 per club to install. Fifa, the game’s world governing body, trialled a “chip-in-ball” system at the Club World Cup in Japan this month.

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