India File

Fifa plans two-referees in top leagues

Zurich: Fifa has said it would conduct trials involving two referees officiating every match in 8220;top leagues8221; next season. Following a meeting of it8217;s technical committee Fifa said on Tuesday: 8220;It is intended to conduct these trials in top leagues on all continents over an entire football season. Fifa plans to designate appropriate leagues before the start of the 1999/2000 season in July this year.8221;

Europe8217;s governing body Uefa said earlier this year it was very keen to adopt the idea once Fifa gave the go-ahead. Fifa has usually introduced experimental changes via youth competitions or minor leagues but was so impressed by the results of unofficial two-referee experiments in some Brazilian games that it decided on a more comprehensive approach.