Two more assistants better than using technology?

Filed in archive General on October 13, 2008

At an Under-19 tournament in Slovenia at the moment, Uefa are running the first of three trials where two extra assistants help the referee. They stand behind each goalline and give the referee four assistants rather than two.

"The goal is to have one referee with more eyes," Uefa president Michel Platini told the Uefa website.

"We do not want to change the philosophy of the game - we do not want to have two or three referees."

Referees taking part in the tournament all seem to be giving a thumbs up to the new system.

Mark Courtney, who took charge of the Slovakia and Armenia game using the new system, welcomed the experiment; "The important thing for the match officials is to always make the correct decision. With this system, we can quickly receive additional information from the additional referees, which we can consider as part of the thought process to make the final decision."

Nicola Rizzoli, who officiated the Norway and Slovenia game, was also impressed; "We had three pairs of eyes on the penalty box, which is very important."

Why go for two people who can make genuine human mistakes? Why give the referee possibly conflicting information on what to make his decision? Why not use technology? Aren't we struggling to get enough referees? Where exactly are these two extra officials per game going to come from?