The line umpires who officiate matches during the Wimbledon championships will be replaced by Live Electronic Line Calling (Live ELC) next year, breaking a 147-year tradition.

The All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club has announced that, from 2025, officiating technology will be in place for all championships and qualifying match courts. This Live ELC technology, called Hawk-Eye Live, will be used to give the ‘out’ and ‘fault’ calls.

To ensure that a match or tournament is conducted according to the International Tennis Federation rules of tennis and other competition regulations, officials preside over the court.

These include line umpires, who are usually each assigned a line and will call if a shot lands outside a line or indicate if it was in.

From 2025, the Live ELC technology will replace the 327 line umpires currently employed to cover more than 650 matches played during the fortnight of Wimbledon across 18 courts.

Electronic technology has been used at Wimbledon for many years...