No to technology, but yes to more officials
FIFA has ruled out the use of goal-line technology and will stop tests in this area until further notice. The decision was taken at the AGM of the International Football Association Board (IFAB) in Scotland.The IFAB, formed in 1886, determines the laws of the game and comprises of delegates from the four British associations and four from FIFA. Proposals need a three-quarter-majority vote to be approved.
This will come as a major blow to the English Football Association and Premier League chiefs who had hoped to introduce the 'Hawkeye' system in 2009.
FIFA president Sepp Blatter has long been against using technology in the game while the Welsh FA were also against the idea.
'It's a game played by human beings, a game with a human face,' WFA secretary general David Collins said. 'Everyone casts their minds back to 1966 and the Russian linesman and that is probably the most famous example of a goal-line debate. These make the game and something would be lost if supporters didn't have them. The sports who use technology are far more stop-start than football.'
'I'm livid, it is completely out of the blue,' Hawk-Eye managing director Paul Hawkins said. 'A year ago they (the IFAB) set four criteria that had to be met, so they obviously wanted it then. We have invested an awful lot of money and now we have no return on that investment.'
However, the IFAB has approved a proposal from FIFA to conduct an experiment involving two additional assistant referees who will mainly focus on fouls and misconduct in the penalty area.
Jerome Valcke, FIFA 's general secretary, said experiments using the additional linesmen, proposed by UEFA president Michel Platini, would now take place in either a UEFA or FIFA tournament later this year.
Former Celtic and Scotland midfielder Murdo McLeod told the BBC that he had yet to be convinced that goal-line technology would work, but he was highly critical of the idea of employing extra referees.
"It's absolute nonsense," McLeod said. "No matter where he (the extra linesman) stands, at some point his view is going to be obscured.
In another ruling, the Board decided to set a fixed size for pitches used in international matches. The IFAB ruled that pitches must be exactly 105m long and 68m wide (instead of a minimum and maximum length - from 100m to 110m - and a minimum and a maximum width - from 64m to 75m - as mentioned in the present laws).
Also, the Board stressed that people in the technical areas should have no access and view to pitch-side monitors