The international soccer association FIFA had selected GoalControl, located in Würselen, Germany to be the official supplier of goal line technology at the 2013 Confederations Cup in Brazil. DB Schenker Logistics ensured the smooth transportation, customs clearance and on-time delivery of the goal line systems to the stadiums. Experts at Schenker Deutschland AG were responsible for transporting the system‘s 14 high-speed cameras, computers, cables, assembly equipment and even the soccer balls including ball pumps by air freight from Germany to the six stadiums in Belo Horizonte, Recife, Brasilia, Salvador, Rio de Janeiro, Fortaleza. After delivery, the systems, which took up roughly 25 cubic meters of space, were assembled and installed. The new goal line technology system continuously captures the position of the ball in three dimensions. If the ball crosses the goal line completely, the central processing unit sends an encrypted radio signal to the referee‘s watch in less than one second. The short time frame posed a special challenge for the logistics experts at
DB Schenker: “In some cases, we had only nine business days to collect the freight in Würselen, take care of the flight and customs formalities and deliver it to the stadium. After all, the systems should be installed and tested in the stadiums by the time the test matches are held“, stated Christian Schultze, head of DB SCHENKERsportsevents, Schenker Deutschland AG.
