By Andrew Warshaw, Chief Correspondent
March 1 – Football’s lawmakers, meeting in Edinburgh on Saturday, are to discuss the idea of trialling an electronic chip in players’ shirts that could potentially prevent cardiac attacks such as the one suffered by Fabrice Muamba (pictured) last year.
Arguably the most eye-catching proposal is a request by the Scottish FA to allow chips to be placed in the collar of players’ shirts which would feed back vital medical information.
FIFA, which can block any moves it feels are too radical, has four votes to one each for the English, Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish associations. It is likely the proposal will be rejected but Stewart Regan, chief executive of the Scottish FA who put the idea on the agenda, said it was a “no brainer” if there were medical benefits.
“We are trying to consider whether or not things can make a positive difference in the game rather than just another example of technology being brought in,” Regan said recently.
“There is one school of thought that it’s a pure game and there shouldn’t be any technology, and another that thinks if you can make players medically safer why shouldn’t it be considered?”
Muamba collapsed whilst playing for Bolton Wanderers during an FA Cup tie at Tottenham in March last year. His heart stopped for 78 minutes before doctors saved him and although he has made a full recovery he will not play professionally again.
An update on goal-line technology also seems likely to generate considerable interest especially after FIFA announced that Germany’s CAIROS Technologies AG had become the third licensed company to vie for use at next year’s World Cup.
The Premier League has confirmed that it is in advanced talks with both GoalRef and Hawkeye, the two systems that have been trialled successfully, and are now in prime position to become the first major league to install technology – nine months ahead of the World Cup.
“We’re working on the basis of having goal-line technology in place for the start of next season,” said Premier League spokesman Dan Johnson.
Also on the IFAB agenda Saturday is urgent clarification of the offside rule. FIFA wants it made clear, in order to clear up any confusion, whether a player in an offside position is interfering with play or not.
Conspicuous by its absence from the agenda is amending the so-called triple punishment sanction of penalty, red card and suspension when a clear goal-scoring opportunity has been denied. This was a subject that used to be dear to IFAB’s heart but is seemingly no longer considered a priority.
Significantly, however, the very future of the IFAB will to come up for discussion. The elite membership of the board and the position of the British federations has been a source of irritation for a number of other federations, both from Europe and outside. Even among the four British associations there is a tacit acknowledgement that reforming the IFAB is now needed.
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