Hi-tech footballs fitted with special chips that tell officials whether a ball has crossed the line could soon be a regular feature at Premiership football matches after they were successfully trialled in a match in Japan.

Tests during the tournament's opening matches show the system is working and officials must now decide whether to approve the technology for wider use.

Wires embedded in the pitch around the goalmouth emit a magnetic field which can detect the presence of a specially-designed ball fitted with a sensor.

The football can then be tracked its exact position around the pitch.

An encrypted signal is then sent to a watch worn by the referee to let them know whether the ball has crossed the line.

An earlier prototype of the technology was first trialled at the Under-17 World Cup in Peru in 2005 but proved too inaccurate to be rolled out any further.