UEFA to Endorse Five-Official Plan After Trial Success
The concept of five refereeing officials at every football match is about to move a step closer with European football governing body UEFA expected to endorse it next week.
A progress report, which positively assesses a trial of 18 matches at the youth level that were played with an extra official monitoring each penalty area, is expected to be approved by the UEFA executive committee when it meets on Dec.11.
A decision on changing the laws of the game could come as soon as March, but the extra officials will unlikely become a regular feature until after the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.
The new system is aimed at maintaining a human element in decision-making and curb debate on the need for video replays and goal-line technology which FIFA and its rule-making body, the International Football Association Board (IFAB), have so far strongly resisted.
The use of additional officials has received glowing reviews since UEFA was invited to run trials last March by FIFA and IFAB.
“We have been asked to carry out the experiments for them and I think we did that job rather well,” a UEFA spokesman says.
The trials took place at European Under-19 Championship qualifying games played in Slovenia, Hungary and last weekend in Cyprus.
The fourth and fifth officials stand off the pitch to the side of their goal and are able to communicate with the referee through headsets.
Their tasks include spotting fouls when players come together in front of the goal before a free-kick or corner kick, ruling whether the ball has crossed the goal line and helping referees determine valid penalty claims from dives.
UEFA President Michel Platini, who is credited with the idea, attended the first trial games in Slovenia in October, and is understood to be very pleased with the results.
The FIFA executive committee is expected to study the UEFA report when it meets on December 18 and 19 in Tokyo.
A decision on whether to introduce the five-official system rests with the IFAB, which is made up of representatives from FIFA and the football associations of England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. IFAB is scheduled to meet in Northern Ireland next March.
FIFA Satisfied with EU Sports Ministers Meeting
The informal meeting of European sports ministers in Biarritz, France last week provided little hope for FIFA President Sepp Blatter on his mission to introduce the ‘6+5 Rule,' but he is content with “strong support” the leaders have shown in other areas.
“I am satisfied with the coming together of viewpoints and the strong support for the notions of specificity, autonomy and self-regulation of sport that was demonstrated by the 27 European ministers during the meeting in Biarritz.
“The unanimous support of the ministers and their desire for dialogue point towards a bright future for the Olympic and sporting movement."
FIFA says in a statement that the strong Olympic and sporting delegation, led by IOC President Jacques Rogge, demonstrated unity and the desire for structured dialogue with the European authorities.
A private meeting between Blatter and the European Commissioner Jan Figel “allowed both parties to allay certain doubts regarding the application of the specificity and autonomy of sport," according to FIFA.
The governing body added that European ministers had expressed appreciation at measures being undertaken by FIFA to protect minors and training clubs on the issue.
Hundreds to Take Part in Journalist Training
FIFA says more than 300 African sports journalists will be invited to attend special training courses next year, as part of the FIFA-funded Win in Africa with Africa program.
The training will be provided by the AFP Foundation, an independent, non-profit organization set up by global news agency Agence France-Presse.
Reporters and photographers from the 53 African countries will gather twice in eight cities, each time for a week-long course.
“I firmly believe that the 2010 FIFA World Cup represents a unique opportunity to create positive social change across Africa,” FIFA President Sepp Blatter says.
Blatter signed an agreement with AFP Foundation Director Robert Holloway relating to the training initiative earlier this week.
“Four years ago, when FIFA announced that South Africa would host the 2010 tournament, we set out to ensure that long after the FIFA World Cup final in Johannesburg, there would be a legacy left not only for African football, but also for African society in general,” Blatter explained.
“We set out to achieve this with the partnership and active participation of the local population, and this program is an example of such cooperation coming to fruition."
Holloway, speaking on behalf of the AFP Foundation president, Pierre Louette, says his organization is proud to be asked by FIFA to take part in Win in Africa with Africa.
He says the project has a similar philosophy to that of the AFP Foundation.
“Their idea is not so much to give aid to Africa as to provide the continent with the tools to progress and develop,” Holloway says.
“We aspire to give journalists skills which they can pass on to their colleagues and to future generations. Our mission is to teach those who may become tomorrow's teachers."
Delivering the training to African journalists will be football correspondents or photographers from AFP working in four languages: Arabic, English, French and Portuguese.
The courses will be scheduled to coincide with the qualifying rounds for the FIFA World Cup and the Africa Cup of Nations in the first and second halves of the year.
…Briefs
…The 12th Annual Soccerex Convention has come to an end at the Sandton Convention Centre, in Gauteng, South Africa. The major football business event, which kicked off on Nov. 23, covered important issues, including the importance of emerging markets, foreign ownership, the FIFA 2014 World Cup and the Beckham Brand. The conference also looked at stadia redevelopment and managing media rights.
Soccerex 2009 will be held in Johannesburg, while the inaugural Soccerex Brasilia Forum (March 17 – 18) taking place ahead of the FIFA 2014 World Cup in Brazil – is also scheduled for next year.
…FIFA has announced that tickets for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa will go on sale on Feb. 20. According to FIFA, a record number of hospitality packages have been sold to businesses around the world for the showpiece event in June, 2010. Craig says tickets for the general public for Africa's first World Cup, will be sold through the FIFA.com Web site.
…The South African Air Force will put its participation in air shows on hold for at least two years so it can focus on security preparations for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, SAAF Chief Lt. Gen. Carlo Gagiano says. He says instead of showcasing its aircraft at air shows and other promotional events, the air force will focus on doing its job.
"We have a full two years ahead, with a Gauteng 2010 World Cup preparatory exercise early in the year, the Confederations Cup, the elections and the inauguration of the president,” Gagiano says.
Written by Anthony Stavrinos
For general comments or questions, click here
Click here to see the latest Around the Rings Olympic Bid Power Index -- the only authoritative ranking of the 2016 bid cities.
Últimas Noticias
Sinner-Alcaraz, the duel that came to succeed the three phenomenons
Beyond the final result, Roland Garros left the feeling that the Italian and the Spaniard will shape the great duel that came to help us through the duel for the end of the Federer-Nadal-Djokovic era.
Table tennis: Brazil’s Bruna Costa Alexandre will be Olympic and Paralympic in Paris 2024
She is the third in her sport and the seventh athlete to achieve it in the same edition; in Santiago 2023 she was the first athlete with disabilities to compete at the Pan American level and won a medal.
Rugby 7s: the best player of 2023 would only play the medal match in Paris
Argentinian Rodrigo Isgró received a five-game suspension for an indiscipline in the circuit’s decisive clash that would exclude him until the final or the bronze match; the Federation will seek to make the appeal successful.
Rhonex Kipruto, owner of the world record for the 10000 meters on the road, was suspended for six years
The Kenyan received the maximum sanction for irregularities in his biological passport and the Court considered that he was part of a system of “deliberate and sophisticated doping” to improve his performance. He will lose his record and the bronze medal at the Doha World Cup.
Katie Ledecky spoke about doping Chinese swimmers: “It’s difficult to go to Paris knowing that we’re going to compete with some of these athletes”
The American, a seven-time Olympic champion, referred to the case of the 23 positive controls before the Tokyo Games that were announced a few weeks ago and shook the swimming world. “I think our faith in some of the systems is at an all-time low,” he said.
