“IFAB and Federation Internationale de Football Association are now leading the debate and not stopping the debate”, Infantino said at a news conference.
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Five leagues will be kicking off live experiments “at the latest for the 2017/18 season” according to a statement released by IFAB, the body responsible for overseeing the laws of the game, following their meeting in Cardiff.
Thirteen countries are interested in trialling the scheme but English FA chief executive Martin Glenn knows there are still issues to overcome.
The International Football Association Board (IFAB), the game’s lawmaking body founded in 1886 and some 18 years before FIFA, comprises four members from the world body and one from each of the four British associations.
“We have to be very careful when it comes to protecting the game of football”.
We’ve seen the impact video technology has on soccer.
Technology would be used to assist officials with game-changing decisions such as goals, penalties, red cards and mistaken identity.
Gianni Infantino likes the news. “We have shown we are listening to the fans, the players”. “We have to be cautious but are taking concrete steps forwards to show a new era has started in Federation Internationale de Football Association and IFAB”.
This will include a pre-testing phase with experiments carried out in a controlled “non-live” environment.
A “handful” of applicants will be accepted to go ahead with the trials, which will involve pictures from a set number of multiple cameras being analysed by video referees.
“The flow of the game is crucial”.
“We are applying common sense”.
It’s four years since IFAB first sanctioned technology in soccer after previously facing opposition from Infantino’s predecessor Sepp Blatter – but that was restricted to determining whether the ball crossed the line.
Claudio Ranieri, manager of Premier League leaders Leicester, believes the changes should be embraced, stating: “I think the technology helps everybody – players, managers, referees”. We have to move forward. So-called triple jeopardy will be outlawed – if a player makes a genuine attempt to play the ball in the box when conceding a penalty, they will no longer be sent off. The change will be introduced for a two-year trial period from June.
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The IFAB is also to “allow experimentation with a fourth substitution in extra time”, although it has yet to decide where the trials will take place.
