Wired up for referee experiment

Following conversation
Mr Platini was able to follow the conversation between Italian referee Andrea De Marco and his four assistant referees during the match between Slovenia and Slovakia, while Mr Taylor had the same experience with Irish referee David McKeon and his four assistants in the game between Armenia and Norway.

Positive feedback
Positive feedback continues to be the order of the day in the experiment. In addition to the match referee and two assistant referees on the touchline, two extra assistants are situated behind the goalline to focus on incidents that happen in the penalty area, such as fouls or misconduct. The tests in Slovenia follow approval of the test by football's lawmakers, the International Football Association Board, last spring.

Invaluable experience
Mr Taylor considered the experiment to be an invaluable experience, and was able to see match-situation examples of the benefits of the presence of additional assistants. "It is very important to see this experiment at first hand, and I could not get closer than to stand behind the goal," he said. "What I have seen in this experiment has been very interesting and worthwhile."

Position an advantage
"The real advantage is the position of the additional referee," the UEFA General Secretary added. "For example, in the first half, we saw a goalkeeper diving at the feet on the oncoming centre-forward. Was it a penalty or not? It was clear from behind the goal that it was not. These important decisions require the best sight of the situation, and this is what I witnessed myself."

More trials
The referees – already impressed with the experiment on the tournament's opening day – were able to fine-tune their communication and cooperation. They succeeded in dividing their duties in an efficient way, especially in terms of which official speaks first when an incident occurs. More trials are planned for later this year in the U19 qualifying round, in Groups 1 and 7 in Hungary and Cyprus.