Former referee Pierluigi Collina
on Monday welcomed last weekend's decision by soccer's
International Board to introduce video assistant referees on a
trial basis but warned this will inevitably mean longer matches.
The board said a trial of using video technology will
begin by the 2017-18 season for key calls on goals, red cards
and penalties.
The IFAB, which is made up of the four British football
associations and FIFA, says a final decision on using technology
will only be made after the trials.
"We'll have to get used to games lasting longer," said
Collina, who is now UEFA's head of refereeing after being
considered the best official in the world for much of his active
career from 1988 to 2005.
"The time taken to look at the (video) images will be
wiped off and so it will have to be made up," added the
56-year-old Italian, whose big games included the 1999 UEFA
Champions League Final between Bayern Munich and Manchester
United and the 2002 World Cup final between Brazil and Germany.
He said he was confident that protocols for the use of
video assistant referees will be found to ensure soccer's
distinctive fluidity is not lost.
"There have been rugby matches that have lasted much more
than the official 40 minutes in each half (because of video
decisions)," said Collina, 56.
"We have to be ready for halves that no longer last 47, 48
minutes like they do today".
But he stressed that there would be advantages in terms of
less frustration, especially for match officials.
"No matter how good a referee is, he knows there's always
a risk that he won't see something that is shown by one of the
20 or more TV cameras on the field," he said.
"This generates enormous frustration among referees and it
is not understood by the people or by all of the world of
football, which always wants perfect decisions.
"The video solution is designed to support the referee in
decisions that can have an important effect on the outcome of
the match".
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