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Major League Soccer is ready to stage the first live trials of video refereeing in the hope that the system can be operable across football next year. Fifa is coming under mounting pressure to give support to match officials by using replays and the MLS in the United States expects its tests to create unstoppable momentum.
Despite years of debate, there has yet to be proper testing to show how video can best be used by football. The MLS plans to be at the forefront by trialling a system in ten to fifteen friendly, or academy, matches starting this month.
The games will have to be noncompetitive because the Fifa members of Ifab, football’s rule-making body, blocked any live trials this year despite the Dutch federation (KNVB) making a proposal after almost two years of off-line testing.
The Brazilian federation has also made representations to be allowed to try video refereeing and, with pressure from different continents, it seems inevitable that football will have to catch up with other sports who long ago realised that the age of video-officiating is here. The question is how far its influence should go, which the MLS hopes to discover in its trials. Officials in the US have spent 18 months looking at how to review decisions on three areas; penalty kicks, red cards and the awarding of a goal.
“In all those cases, there is a natural stoppage,” Jeff Agoos, vice-president of competition, told The Times. “Our findings show there is ample time to give information to the referee. Depending on the incident, there can be from 40 seconds to well over a minute, plenty of time to review a decision.”
Under the MLS system, the video official would also be able to initiate contact with the referee if he has missed a big call such as a red card or penalty. The Dutch protocol allows for 15 seconds for the video official to intervene; the MLS says it has no mandated period but hopes that the trials can demonstrate what works, or not.
“We are huge proponents of using technology to improve the game without disrupting the flow,” Agoos said. “It’s about marrying those two things.
“Ultimately, we believe the referee should have as much, if not more, information than the fan who goes to the game. At the moment the fan has more on his smartphone. We don’t think that makes sense.
“The discussion in football, ‘That it’s always been that way’, doesn’t hold water with us. We are not looking for perfection. It doesn’t exist. There will always be the human element but the game is so fast now that it’s impossible for the officials to keep track.”
Agoos said that MLS owners were behind the move and, if trials proved successful, would hope to initiate the system across the league in 2016. But they would need approval from the notoriously conservative Ifab.
Ifab’s football advisory panel and technical advisory panel are due to meet in London this week, when the system will once again be discussed, but it could take until Ifab’s annual business meeting this year, or its AGM in March, before approval can be given for tests in competitive matches.
“The MLS would be very happy to take the lead for the rest of the game,” Agoos said, saying that he had been in discussions with the KNVB.
“Football’s culture is to be conservative but for us, the technology is natural. It’s in our sports, the norm here. It’s going to be implemented in football. Once the door is open, it’s just a question of how wide.”
Candid camera
American Football The NFL first used a limited replay system in 1986, with coaches’ challenges allowed from 1999. A video assistant can intervene in many rulings, and a command centre in New York also oversees matches.
Ice Hockey The NHL first adopted video in 1991. It is mostly used to determine goals, such as if the puck was kicked over the line or if the goal was scored before the end of a period.
Basketball The NBA has been using replays since 2002 and has gradually expanded from player ejections, buzzer-beaters and whether a shot was two or three points to now determine many types of foul and other misdemeanours.
Baseball The last leading US sport to adopt video. In 2008, the MLB initially had an umpire reviewing whether a home run was scored, or not. In 2014, each manager was allotted at least one challenge on a wider set of decisions. Games are watched in a command centre in New York.
Despite years of debate, there has yet to be proper testing to show how video can best be used by football. The MLS plans to be at the forefront by trialling a system in ten to fifteen friendly, or academy, matches starting this month.
The games will have to be noncompetitive because the Fifa members of Ifab, football’s rule-making body, blocked any live trials this year despite the Dutch federation (KNVB) making a proposal after almost two years of off-line testing.
The Brazilian federation has also made representations to be allowed to try video refereeing and, with pressure from different continents, it seems inevitable that football will have to catch up with other sports who long ago realised that the age of video-officiating is here. The question is how far its influence should go, which the MLS hopes to discover in its trials. Officials in the US have spent 18 months looking at how to review decisions on three areas; penalty kicks, red cards and the awarding of a goal.
“In all those cases, there is a natural stoppage,” Jeff Agoos, vice-president of competition, told The Times. “Our findings show there is ample time to give information to the referee. Depending on the incident, there can be from 40 seconds to well over a minute, plenty of time to review a decision.”
Under the MLS system, the video official would also be able to initiate contact with the referee if he has missed a big call such as a red card or penalty. The Dutch protocol allows for 15 seconds for the video official to intervene; the MLS says it has no mandated period but hopes that the trials can demonstrate what works, or not.
“We are huge proponents of using technology to improve the game without disrupting the flow,” Agoos said. “It’s about marrying those two things.
“Ultimately, we believe the referee should have as much, if not more, information than the fan who goes to the game. At the moment the fan has more on his smartphone. We don’t think that makes sense.
“The discussion in football, ‘That it’s always been that way’, doesn’t hold water with us. We are not looking for perfection. It doesn’t exist. There will always be the human element but the game is so fast now that it’s impossible for the officials to keep track.”
Agoos said that MLS owners were behind the move and, if trials proved successful, would hope to initiate the system across the league in 2016. But they would need approval from the notoriously conservative Ifab.
Ifab’s football advisory panel and technical advisory panel are due to meet in London this week, when the system will once again be discussed, but it could take until Ifab’s annual business meeting this year, or its AGM in March, before approval can be given for tests in competitive matches.
“The MLS would be very happy to take the lead for the rest of the game,” Agoos said, saying that he had been in discussions with the KNVB.
“Football’s culture is to be conservative but for us, the technology is natural. It’s in our sports, the norm here. It’s going to be implemented in football. Once the door is open, it’s just a question of how wide.”
Candid camera
American Football The NFL first used a limited replay system in 1986, with coaches’ challenges allowed from 1999. A video assistant can intervene in many rulings, and a command centre in New York also oversees matches.
Ice Hockey The NHL first adopted video in 1991. It is mostly used to determine goals, such as if the puck was kicked over the line or if the goal was scored before the end of a period.
Basketball The NBA has been using replays since 2002 and has gradually expanded from player ejections, buzzer-beaters and whether a shot was two or three points to now determine many types of foul and other misdemeanours.
Baseball The last leading US sport to adopt video. In 2008, the MLB initially had an umpire reviewing whether a home run was scored, or not. In 2014, each manager was allotted at least one challenge on a wider set of decisions. Games are watched in a command centre in New York.
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