FRANKFURT: Herbert Fandel, head of the German referees committee, is unhappy at the Bundesliga’s rejection of goal-line technology writes KEIR RADNEDGE.

Former FIFA referee Fandel was reacting to the failure of clubs in the top two divisions to come up with the necessary two-thirds majority which would have carried the proposal.

Only half of the top-flight clubs were in favour and only three of the 18 second-tier clubs thought the expense justifiable.

Champions Bayern Munich were one club known to be in favour of goal-line technology which was launched in the English Premier League with positive results this season.

“It’s a pity,” said Fandel. “Goal-line technology would have brought clarity to important incidents and helped ease critical pressure on our referees.”

Fandel indicated that German referees had indicated a similar general disappointment with the decision. He did not believe that, in a competition as healthy as the Bundesliga, any clubs had been intimidated by implementation costs.

Like Bundesliga president Reinhard Rauball, he also thought that the debate was now over.

A readers’ survey carried out by the magazine Kicker produced a result of 73.4pc of fans in favour of GLT and 26.6pc against.

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