International football body IFAB has delayed taking a decision about the Dutch football association’s application to use video referees.

The IFAB, which decides on international football rules, said it needed more time to discuss the KNVB’s application.

The KNVB wanted to extend its ongoing video referee trials and to start testing during cup and reserve team matches.

Video-referring involves having an official in the stadium watching replays and advising the referee on key decisions via a headset. The system is already in use in international hockey matches.

Fifa secretary general Jerome Valcke said in a statement the decision to delay is not a rejection of the Dutch plans.

‘It’s the biggest decision that would come out from the IFAB, ever. And that’s why it’s not a question of years; it’s about making the biggest decision ever in the way football is played,’ he said.

The KNVB has been running preliminary assessments of how useful video referees are since the 2013/14 season. ‘The first season of the pilot showed that the video referee is of value in three to four important decisions per match,’ the KNVB concluded at the time.