The International Football Association Board, the body which sets the fundamental laws of the sport, is set to discuss the adoption – on a trial basis – of video replays to assist referees when it meets in Northern Ireland this week.
Comprised of representatives from FIFA and the “home nations,” the four British associations who are considered the founders of the game, IFAB is responsible for setting soccer's overarching rules and policies. Despite the longstanding resistance of FIFA president Sepp Blatter, it could soon make instant-replay technology the sport's newest feature.
“I believe we will look back in 20 years' time and say, 'Wasn't it quaint that we didn't use the available technology to help referees?'” said Greg Dyke, chairman of the English FA. “I think the referees themselves are now up for trying it out somewhere. Slowly and gradually, it needs to be done, as you could disrupt the game completely if you are not careful.
“I hope it will be agreed that we can have a big trial of it somewhere – but we won't put forward the Premier League.”
On Wednesday, Dyke and his FA colleagues are hearing a plan from the KNVB, the Netherlands' FA, to have a video assistant watch a match on television and communicate in real time with the game's referee via a headset. The Dutch are ready to try out the technology in the KNVB Cup, that nation's domestic cup tournament, and need the go-ahead from IFAB.
“We are supporters of technology to assist referees in the decision-making process, and our first experiences are positive,” KNVB spokesman Koen Adriaanse told Press Association Sport. “We believe that a video assistant can support a referee in order to make more correct decisions.
“It is only for us in decisive situations: penalties, fouls before goals, red cards. And it is not only there to show wrong decisions, but also to support the referee in decisions that are right.”
Dutch officials report that video review would be used for two-to-three major incidents per game on average, with decisions typically made in five to 20 seconds.
