Platini to watch referee experiment

Last Modified: 10 Oct 2008
Source: ITN

Uefa president Michel Platini is heading to Slovenia to supervise an experiment using two extra referees.

The International Football Association Board have given permission for two extra assistant referees to officiate at matches in the under-19 European Championship qualifying tournament and they will be given responsibility to watch for incidents inside the penalty areas.

The extra assistants will be positioned behind the goalline at either end of the field and they could become a common sight if the experiment is a success.

The experiment was approved at a meeting in Scotland in March and there are two more experiments planned in Hungary and Cyprus later this year.

The new assistants will be expected to watch for fouls and misconduct, but they could also help judge when the ball has crossed the goalline.

Fifa have suspended experiments with electronic goalline technologically so they can rely on human judgment.

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