LONDON, England (AFP) — The Premier League yesterday announced a historic decision to sanction the use of

goal-line technology in the English top flight from the 2013-14 season onwards, in a global first for a domestic competition.

British-based firm Hawk-Eye was chosen over German company GoalControl to supply the ground-breaking technology at a meeting of the Premier League’s 20 club chairmen.

Hawk-Eye’s system uses seven cameras to track the movement of the ball and sends a signal to the match officials’ watches within a second if the ball crosses one of the two goal-lines.

It will now be put in place at all Premier League grounds, while the Football Association also intends to install a system at London’s Wembley Stadium in time for the traditional season-opener, the Community Shield, in August.

“The Premier League is pleased to announce that it has awarded Hawk-Eye, the world’s leading provider of vision processing instruments to sport, the contract to provide goal-line technology systems across its 20 member clubs and all 380 Barclays Premier League matches,” the league announced on its official website, www.premierleague.com.

Premier League Chief Executive Richard Scudamore said that he was keen to see Hawk-Eye replays of contentious decisions relayed to fans during matches.

“The fact it was a camera-based system was critical,” he said.

“Replays will be made available to all our host broadcasters and we are examining the feasibility of them being used on

in-stadium big-screens. It is essential that fans see the system in action to know that it is working.”

Paul Hawkins, the inventor of the Hawk-Eye system, said: “We understand the responsibility that we have been given and that

the real challenge lies ahead in consistently delivering the technology that football deserves.”

The Premier League, the world’s most popular domestic football championship, is in line to become the first of Europe’s major leagues to introduce the technology.

The Premier League, meanwhile, said it has ratified financial controls that limit increases in players’ wage bills and oblige clubs to restrict losses to £105 million ($162 million, 123 million euros) over a three-year period.