Goal-line technology providers GoalRef and Hawk-Eye have been authorized to install their systems worldwide after signing license agreements with FIFA, soccer's world governing body said on Tuesday, Oct. 23, SuperSport reported.

The announcement came a year after FIFA began an exhaustive search for systems which could reliably detect whether or not a ball had crossed a goal-line.

"Between October 2011 and June 2012, both companies passed a series of extensive laboratory and field tests, tests in simulated match situations, as well as tests in live matches," said FIFA in a statement.

"This milestone in the goal-line technology process, which began in 2011, means that the two companies now have official authorization to install their respective goal-line technology systems worldwide."

Football's rule-making body, the International Football Association Board (IFAB), approved the use of the technology in July following a series of incidents in which referees failed to see that the ball had crossed the goal-line.