Referee system to change for next Cup, says FIFA

JOHANNESBURG, (Reuters) – The refereeing system will  change for the next World Cup with goalline technology and extra  officials being considered, FIFA said yesterday.

“I would say that it is the final World Cup with the current  refereeing system,” Jerome Valcke, general secretary of world  soccer’s governing body, told the BBC.

FIFA’s past resistance to change appears to be shifting  after some wrong calls in the World Cup, most notably Frank  Lampard’s disallowed effort for England against Germany that  crossed the goalline, and Carlos Tevez’s offside goal for  Argentina versus Mexico.

Tevez’s goal was replayed on stadium big screens,  heightening fury among Mexican players and fans.

Valcke said the failure to award Lampard’s effort was a “bad  day” for organisers.

“We are talking about a single goal not seen by the referee  which is why we are talking about new technology,” he said in an  interview with the British broadcaster.

“But again let’s see if this system will help or whether  giving the referee an additional four eyes will give him the  comfort and make duty easier to perform, then why not?”

The use of two extra linesmen to check the goalline and  penalty area was trialled in the Europa League last season and  is to be used in the upcoming Champions League, from the final  qualifying round, and Euro 2012 qualifiers.

FIFA president Sepp Blatter has apologised for the mistakes  in South Africa and said it would be a “nonsense” not to look  again at the merits of goalline technology such as the Hawk-Eye  system used in tennis and cricket.

Valcke said the increased speed of modern soccer had  hastened the need for reform.

“The game is different and the referees are older than all  the players,” he said.

“The game is so fast, the ball is flying so quickly, we have  to help them and we have to do something and that’s why I say it  is the last World Cup under the current system.”

The FIFA official said soccer’s lawmaking body, the  International Football Association Board (IFAB), was unlikely to  hold serious discussions on the matter at their next meeting  later this month, but rather when they sit again in October.