FA boss keen to trial video technology

Published Mar 1, 2015

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London – Football Association (FA) chairman Greg Dyke said he would be keen to pilot the use of video technology in British football to aid referee's decision making.

Dyke’s proposal would mirror the Dutch Football Association’s (KNVB) policy of utilising replays to aid referee’s decision making via a headset.

The KNVB had wanted to extend their trial but at Saturday’s meeting of the International Football Association Board (IFAB) in Belfast, football’s lawmakers opted to delay the trials for 12 months.

“I would very much like to do a pilot in the UK,” Dyke told the BBC. “(However) Fifa can stop us doing a pilot in the UK.”

Dyke’s comments come in the aftermath of an incident in which Sunderland’s Wes Brown was incorrectly dismissed against Manchester United on Saturday.

Brown was shown a red card by referee Roger East in the 66th minute of their 2-0 loss at Old Trafford despite replays showing team mate John O’Shea committing a foul on Radamel Falcao.

The referees governing body, the Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL), issued a statement saying East thought Brown had committed the foul rather than a case of mistaken identity.

On Sunday Sunderland announced they would appeal the red card.

Dyke added: “I can understand that everybody thinks we should not rush into change and that we should do it slowly, which I think does make sense, but you have got to do pilots to see what does work and what doesn’t.

“If you could help that referee with video technology, then you should.

“We see these figures and they tend to suggest referees are not having a bad season but obviously there are still mistakes inevitably and they get highlighted. That’s life.”

Keith Hackett, the former referees chief, said IFAB were wrong to delay the use of video technology and should take leadership to resolve the issue.

“Referees are making big mistakes, week in, week out. They need some leadership and with that leadership the guy who is at the top needs to front up,” he told the BBC.

“I think (Brown’s red card) was another error in refereeing that we’ve seen, we’re seeing it pretty often.” – Reuters

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