THE FUTURE OF FOOTBALL

The FA will volunteer to be the guinea pigs for new goalline technology when the game's rule-makers meet on Saturday. The International FA Board (IFAB), made up of the four associations of the home nations plus Fifa, is having its annual meeting in Cardiff and will be told of a breakthrough in electronic aids to help referees to judge when the ball has crossed the line.

The latest development has a microchip inside the ball and when it crosses the goalline the referee is alerted directly by a bleeper-type system. If it impresses the IFAB, the Football League is likely to experiment with the technology.

David Davies, FA executive director, said: "We will be very interested to see this presentation — it's true we have been more interested in the use of technology than other members of the board.

"But this is not video technology, the referee will have a direct link with this form of technology rather than having to rely on a fourth official or video back-up.

"Whether this form of technology will find wider support than previous efforts
remains to be seen but if there was enthusiasm I'm sure we would seriously
discuss with our leagues whether they would be interested in this sort of
innovation."

The Football League has already made one offer to Fifa to experiment with
goalline technology and John Nagle, a spokesman, said: "That offer is still on the table."

Another proposal, this time by the FA of Wales (FAW), to make the offside rule apply only in penalty areas, appears doomed to failure. One FAW proposal that does have a chance of success is a change to the rule regarding an automatic red card when the 'last man' denies an opponent an obvious goalscoring chance.

The IFAB has been asked to change the law so that if a penalty is awarded, the player who committed the foul receives only a yellow card because the
goalscoring opportunity is returned by the spot kick.

Sepp Blatter, the Fifa president, believes that professional referees should earn about £69,000 per year to lessen the chance of corruption in the game. "I've been saying that for ten years," Blatter said. "Then it becomes an occupation, and when you go to your workplace you don't cheat anyone."