Cross-sport refs call for technology

A new cross-sport refereeing body believes video technology and the use of microphones on match officials have an increasingly important role to play but insists officials must still be allowed to control matches.

That was the message from the Association of Elite Sports Officials when the men in charge from football, cricket, rugby union and rugby league came together at Twickenham yesterday.

The Football Association's David Elleray, a former FIFA referee and chairman of the association, said: "We hope we will hear from our colleagues the positives and the negatives of using video replays to help the active officials come to some sort of judgement.

"But in the end it's FIFA who make the decision. We know the English FA were very much in favour of the introduction of goalline technology, but FIFA decided worldwide they didn't want it.

"What we want to do is debate areas of officiating. We are not the decision makers, but we think we could become a think-tank and an influential source."