A video referee was on hand in the Italy v Germany friendly but did not need to step in as Portuguese match referee Artur Soares Dias got all his calls right concerning goals and penalties, correctly ruling German Kevin Volland offside when scoring and giving no penalties when Italian Ciro Immobile and German Ilkay Guendogan went down.
“We are testing, it’s not perfect yet. But at least we had some incidents where the video referee could help the referee and confirm his decisions,” Infantino told reporters after the game.
The Dutch-based system is undergoing various tests, and Tuesday’s game was the second friendly international in which it was used. Further tests are set in leagues including Germany’s Bundesliga, and Infantino hopes to have it in place for the World Cup.
“We are working on helping the referee a little bit at the World Cup, the most important competition, so that he at least doesn’t make big mistakes. I hope we will see it,” Infantino said.
Germany coach Joachim Loew had expressed scepticism on Monday about the system but was more convinced after the game even though the referee had made the right calls.
“You can accept the system if it is sound,” said Loew who admitted that from his position there seemed to be nothing wrong with Volland’s goal and that Guendogan was fouled.
Source: dpa/GNA/NewsGhana.com.gh
