Soccer rule-makers the International Football Association Board (IFBA) this weekend agreed to test in several professional leagues a plan from UEFA President Michel Platini that includes employing additional referee assistants to better monitor goal lines.
“The Italian Cup will be the first guinea pig and the French FA has also offered to trial the scheme, while introducing the system in the USA’s Major League Soccer is also a possibility,” according to ESPN Soccernet.
“The decision will be made in 2011 so if it is agreed then it will be used in Euro 2012. On TV, they show the mistakes of referees and we have to help them,” insists Platini. Against the idea of a video referee, he also points out that, unlike other goal-line technology, an actual official can help the head referee with other decisions like penalties and hand balls.