Platini Wants Five Refs

UEFA President Michel Platini is apparently keen on the idea of having an additional two referees on the park to help increase the accuracy of decisions made in the penalty area.

Platini said: ‘To referee with just three people, it is outmoded. Three officials cannot see everything. I am proposing two extra officials, over-45s who don’t need to run because they would stay behind the goals.’

I have to say I can’t disagree with this idea. Anything that makes the game fairer and minimises unnecessary controversy is surely a good thing, although it would perhaps give websites like this slightly less to talk about!

The only thing that you might take Platini to task on though, is why not use goalline technology instead? It’s been said that he’s against this idea because he feels that it ‘dehumanises football’, which I can see his point on, but at the same time if you do have the technology available and it’s guaranteed to improve the game, then why not use it?

In fact, you could probably use this as well as the two new officials, as having these guys behind each goal would help with any decision inside the area, not just arguments about whether the ball has crossed the line or not. Having said that though, how many officials do you have before it becomes too many? They already struggle sometimes with the three of them, so what would it be like with five?

We’ll soon see if Platini decides to put his idea into practice.