Are Five Referees Better Than Three Or Have FIFA and UEFA Got It Wrong?

FIFA and UEFA have announced next season’s UEFA Europa League will be the guinea pig for a new refereeing initiative which will see five officials marshaling each tie instead of the normal three.

The two extra officials shall be placed behind the goal line to assist with decisions inside the box.

I am not sure what to make of this, but it sure is going to cost a lot of money in these hard economic times with retraining, match fees, and travel costs—considering the 150-team tournament starts in July.

But if you are unemployed in this difficult economic era and fancy a bit of abuse from time to time, then get on the phone to your local refereeing organisation before they stick up the ‘staff needed’ sign on their office window for everyone to see.

Is there really a need?

This is the International Football Association Board’s answer to the failed goal line technology experiment from a couple of years ago and is apparently, according to Sky Sports, favoured by UEFA’s Michel Platini. But how can a person standing behind the goal, with the ball between them and the line, make out for sure if the ball has crossed it?

Apparently if the new official does not agree with a decision made by the referee he will inform the official by making use of a headset, which will keep things flowing faster than if the referee was to ask for the help of video evidence during a match.

I’m not really in favour of too much technology in football, but this is the 21st century, surely we have the means of deciding if the ball has crossed the line without having to stop the game.

UEFA reported that the experiment, which took place at Under-19 European Championship qualifying ties, showed a decrease in shirt pulling, diving and dissent from the boys involved in the matches.

Will it have the same effect on wily old professionals, who have proven in recent times to be willing to do anything to get ahead?

I have my doubts to be honest.

It is also quite comical that those in power believe it will take five officials (plus the fourth official, who will have to be renamed "the sixth most important person in charge of a game of football") to fairly referee a football match, when down at my local playing fields, one man regularly does the same job on a Sunday morning.

We simply do not need five referees.

Football will hopefully never be perfect, as in that guise, it was the sport which built my character.