updated 12:53 p.m. ET Dec. 5, 2005

LEIPZIG, Germany - The high technology “smart ball” that will help officials on close calls around the goal won’t be ready for use at next year’s World Cup soccer finals.

FIFA president Sepp Blatter said Monday that plans to give the ball a second test this month at the World Club Championship in Japan have been scrapped.

“That means it’s no longer a theme for the World Cup,” Blatter said.

The balls, embedded with a microchip, send a signal to a device on the referee’s wrist if they cross the goal line. They were first tested at the under-17 World Cup in Peru earlier this year.

FIFA general secretary Urs Linsi called those results positive, but with “room for improvement.”

“This is a very good start, but we just need more time to develop a dependable, high-technology system,” Linsi said.

Adidas, which makes the balls, said they will be used officially when the tracking system — which involves 12 antennae sending radio signals to the referee’s device — is more advanced.

Adidas said a decision was made with FIFA and the ball’s developer, Germany’s Cairos Technologies, “to concentrate on more tests of the system before it’s used at tournaments of the highest level.”

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The smart ball, if effective, would end years of controversy over whether the ball crossed the line.

At the 1966 World Cup final, a linesman ruled that Geoff Hurst’s shot hit the crossbar and bounced over the line for England’s third goal against West Germany. Although the ball bounced back into play, the goal stood and England went on to win 4-2.

Whether it was actually a goal is still hotly debated.

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