At a referees gathering in Nyon this week, more details about the upcoming Europa League experiment emerged. The experiment with two extra officials on the goal lines will be carried out during the Europa League group stage. The 144 games will all feature six referees.
FIFA have published a document describing some of the details I’ve previously questioned.
From this document we find the following:
- The two extra referees will be FIFA officials or from the highest category at national level
- The sextet will all be from the same country
- The extra referee will be positioned on the opposite side from the assistant referee
- They will use radio communication to communicate with the referee
- They may move sideways along the goal line, but never outside the penalty area or inside the goal area
FIFA also provide their objectives for running an experiment like this.
To enhance the control of the match in accordance with the Laws of the Gamein key areas of the field of play by adding an extra pair of eyes near to each penalty area:
- to support the referee
- to identify infringements
- to reduce match-changing errors
- to deter players from committing infringements
The experiment will commence on the 17th of September with the start of the Europa League group stage and will be very interesting to observe.
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