England games will be offered for video tests, FA chief confirms

Guinea pigs: FA to offer up England matches for new technology
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Nick Mashiter7 March 2016

Football Association chief executive Martin Glenn says the FA would be open to trialling video technology during England games.

The International Football Association Board have given the green light to video trials, with live experiments due to start before the 2017-18 season.

The FA, along with their Scottish counterparts, are supporters of the scheme and 13 countries have offered to help test the technology.

There is no definite date when the trials will become live but the IFAB will start offline testing and review every protocol before launching and Glenn conceded England matches may be used.

"Possibly, but it would be a Uefa decision," he said, when asked if England games could be a possible testing ground.

"The whole point of doing it is to avoid there being bad decisions made, so it would have to be at the top end because only at the top end will you have camera systems to make it work.

"We will definitely offer it. The limiting factor is it can only work properly if there are a lot of cameras."

Glenn also admitted the FA would push for videos to be used in the FA Cup once trials are ready but he had already raised the issue of cost and feasibility.

"Absolutely we would, under-21 games (too), we need experience of how it works," he added.

New Fifa president Gianni Infantino called the decision by the IFAB, who govern the laws of the game, a historic moment when it was announced in Cardiff on Saturday.

Infantino and the IFAB are determined not to harm the flow of the game but the 45-year-old, who was on his first official overseas trip after being elected last month, insisted progress cannot be overlooked.

"We cannot close our eyes to the future but it doesn't mean to say it will work," he said.

"The flow of the game is crucial. We cannot put that in danger. That is why we have to be open to test."

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