Extra assistants may help referees

'Only advantages'
The initiative – which, in addition to the match referee and two assistant referees on the touchline, involves two extra assistants placed behind the goalline with the mission of focusing on incidents which happen in the penalty area, such as fouls or misconduct – was pioneered in European U19 Championship qualifying Group 5 in Slovenia and has continued in Group 1, which kicked off in Hungary on Monday. Although keen to stress the trial is still in its early stages, Cornu believes the initial effect has been beneficial, saying: "It's a little too early to say for sure but the first conclusion after eight matches is that this is worth the effort. The referees have said to us – and they are important, because they are on the pitch – that so far they have seen only advantages.

Widespread benefits
"Firstly, there is better control of the penalty area, the referee feels more comfortable when there is a counterattack and, especially, there is less dissent from the players," Cornu added. "The extra assistant has a reassuring and preventative effect and does not affect the control of the game at all – on the contrary, it improves it. So far we haven't seen a negative aspect, which could have created complications or problems."

'Best solution'
Cornu was also keen to emphasise the experiment is still in its infancy, explaining: "We're still in the test phase, so there are applications and interpretations from the extra referees which are different. We have two teams of referees here in Hungary and we're looking for the best solution. To start with, the two teams received similar instructions, but during matches we saw that some of the extra referees moved more on to the playing field and others preferred to be along the goalline. That's allowed us to remind them that the principle of the extra assistants is to control the penalty area. The tests will continue with different positions, so instead of being on the opposite side to the assistants, the extra assistant will be on the same side. The rules aren't fixed yet – we're going to try everything."