Dutch FA to press ahead with video assistance trials next season

The Dutch football association said it is to begin experimenting with a video assisted referee system in the coming KNVB Cup competition, now that world football rules body IFAB is on the verge of giving the green light.

‘We have been trying to get this off the ground since 2011,’ KNVB operational director Gijs de Jong told broadcaster Nos. ‘It is about time for this development because this will make the game fairer and prevent crucial errors.’

The video referee will be able to give advice when goals are scored and when the human referee gives a red card or awards a penalty. The referees can ask for advice and the video arbitrator can also flag up problems. The teams will not be able to request intervention as is the case with hockey, De Jong said.

Vote

The move still has to be given the final approval of members of the International Football Association Board at the organisation’s AGM in March. IFAB is the body which determines the rules of the game.

Video assistance will be used in around 25 matches during the next cup competition. The experience of referees and players in the Netherlands and elsewhere will be used to develop a definitive protocol for their use, De Jong said.

In England, video assistance could be used in next season’s FA Cup, the Guardian reports.