UEFA on Friday approved the use of goal-line technology (GLT) for its

competitions, as the body’s acting chief Gianni Infantino vowed to win

FIFA’s upcoming presidential vote. 

The greenlight for GLT, which has been expected, was given the final

nod at UEFA’s executive committee meeting, with the technology to be

introduced at the France-hosted Euro 2016 championship.

Meanwhile, with the campaign heating up to replace Sepp Blatter as

the head of world football’s scandal-tainted governing body, UEFA’s

executive committee unanimously backed Infantino’s candidacy for FIFA’s

February 26 vote. 

“We are certain he is the right man to take FIFA forward now,” an executive committee statement said. 

Infantino, UEFA’s secretary general who entered the race following

the suspension of European football’s fallen president Michel Platini,

voiced confidence of an election win. 

Asked how many votes he expected to get from the 209 FIFA

member-associations who will pick the body’s next leader, Infantino

said: “at least 105, which is the number needed to become the president

of FIFA.”

UEFA’s national associations have also “overwhelmingly” backed

Infantino’s candidacy, but each nation will disclose its individual

endorsement “in due course,” the executive committee statement said. 

Infantino said the

decision on goal-line technology was ultimately made because the game

did not benefit from uncertainty over goals. 

“We looked at it seriously,” he said. GLT “will dispel any doubt about whether a goal has been scored.”

UEFA’s top body approved use of the technology for this summer’s

continental championship and then for the 2016/17 Champion’s League,

with GLT expected to ultimately extend to all UEFA competitions. 

The technology is already used in the English Premier League, Italy’s

Serie A, the German Bundesliga and Ligue 1 in France. FIFA also brought

it in for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil after a series of successful

trials.

“The system will work alongside additional assistant referees who

will continue to monitor all activity in and around the penalty area,”

UEFA said. 

UEFA also said

that it will not hold a vote to replace Platini until the Frenchman’s

appeals against his ban have been exhausted.

Platini was initially suspended from football by FIFA in October over

a 2 million Swiss franc ($2 million/1.8 million euros) payment that

Blatter authorised for him in 2011.

In December, FIFA judges banned him for eight years. 

Platini, who had been the favourite to win FIFA’s presidency, has

denied wrongdoing and vowed to appeal his ban at the Court of

Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne. 

UEFA said “there will be no presidential election scheduled” until sports appeals bodies have ruled on Platini’s case. 

The French football legend withdrew from the FIFA presidency race on January 7.

Infantino is facing tough competition from four rivals in the contest to become the most powerful man in football.

But, he said, those clamouring for an end to the scandals and

allegations that have tarnished the game should have confidence in his

leadership, dismissing the notion that he was a regional candidate. 

“I am not the UEFA candidate. I am not the European candidate…I am the football candidate,” he said. 

Thirty-nine people have been charged by the United States with

corruption in football going back decades, while Swiss prosecutors have

also opened investigations targeting Blatter and the bidding process for

the 2018 and 2022 World Cups, won by Russia and Qatar respectively. 

Top corporate sponsors of the World Cup like Visa and Coca-Cola have demanded sweeping change in global football’s management. 

“They know me,” Infantino said when asked if he had made contact with

these corporations during his campaign. “They know how I work. They

know who I am.”

FIFA presidential candidate Prince Ali bin al Hussein of Jordan has already sounded an alarm over impropriety in the campaign. 

Hussein said a development deal agreed between the Asian and African

confederations looked like a scheme to secure Africa’s backing for Asian

football chief and FIFA presidential candidate Sheikh Salman bin

Ebrahim al Khalifa of Bahrain.

Asked about fears of vote buying, Infantino said “he had no concerns at all with regards to this election.”

Meanwhile, Russian sports minister Vitaly Mutko confirmed his backing for Infantino to win the FIFA vote.

“Undoubtedly we have a candidate of Europe — Infantino. He is our

candidate. Europe is acting as a united front. Therefore we support him

as the candidate of Europe,” Mutko told R-SPort news agency by phone.

“Infantino has been in UEFA for 15 years, he is the secretary general, a respected person.”