Blatter: "4th official behind goal to be tried next year"

World governing body FIFA say they will experiment with a fourth official behind the goal in a bid to ease the protests over the performance of referees at the World Cup finals.

"We will experiment with a fourth referee next year, following a proposal by Michel Platini, in each of the four major tournaments organized by FIFA," said FIFA president Sepp Blatter today but with two goals on offer the movement of the fourth official is still to be confirmed.

FIFA have the women’s World Cup next year as their major event but this bears little relation to the controversial action which has seen key incidents at the World Cup finals – and particularly the progress of the co-hosts South Korea to the semi finals – provoke massive protests from Italy and Spain.

The under-17 and under-20 World Cups are also scheduled to feature a fourth official behind the goal with the friendly Confederations Cup tournament also in the plans for the extra match official.

The new referee will look at incidents in the penalty areas releasing line officials to concentrate on offside decisions in theory. His placement will be key to the success of the plan but shows FIFA are not yet ready to back calls for a second referee on the field of play itself or electronic aids to help the referees by showing repeats of the action.