Platini fuels drive to boost additional refs' experiment

Michel Platini maintained his stance in favour of the additional referees' experiment after receiving positive response from member delegates during the UEFA Executive Committee meeting that came to a close at the Grand Hotel Excelsior yesterday.

The UEFA president has been a driving force behind the test, which involves the addition of two extra officials, to curb refereeing mistakes, especially those emanating from incidents in the penalty area.

This season UEFA has given this proposal a trial during Europa League matches and the feedback so far has been very positive. Platini believes that the idea will be beneficial to protect the game.

"Our main job at UEFA is to make sure that we protect football from all injustices," Platini told the media.

"There has been loads of controversy in recent months regarding incidents in the box that highlighted the ref's fragility to cover all areas of the ground.

"This season, UEFA has introduced the experiment of having two additional referees in the Europa League and what we got so far was encouraging.

"I feel that having six officials monitoring proceedings on the pitch is a better guarantee of having more fair decisions during football matches. The experiment is still in progress and no final decisions have been taken yet, but I think that this is the way forward.

"There are other sport, like handball, with a much smaller playing area but with more than one ref on court. In tennis, they have 12 officials for one match so why not in football."

This week, FIFA president Sepp Blatter dropped a clear hint at taking a different route towards ensuring more accuracy in referee decisions by saying that FIFA could sanction the use of goal-line technology.

Platini didn't sound too convinced though.

"This is just a proposal that we still have to discuss and look into it," the Frenchman said.

"We have to see how it works but I feel that the technology set-up proposed could be expensive. So, I am more for the 'human' solution. But, again, it's still early talk."

Discipline on the field of play was another area that Platini dealt with yesterday. The former Les Bleus and Juventus captain argued that nowadays referees had the tools required to make sure players show respect towards match officials.

"Referees cannot lose control during matches. So, they have to show authority to keep players disciplined," Platini said.

"During my career as a player and captain I always knew how to communicate with certain refs and the ones you cannot argue with not to get booked or sent off. They have the yellow and red cards to keep players under check. It's up to the referees to make sure they make good use of them.

"With some players you have to be tough and although there are instances when referees are criticised for showing too many cards, I feel that's the only way to secure order and discipline on the field of play."

In 2016, UEFA will host an expanded edition of the European Championship when 24 teams will compete in the finals.

Platini said the increase in participation is an advantage for both organisers and the game in general.

"From a technical point of view I think having 24 teams will provide a wider spectacle of football," Platini, winner of Euro 1984, said.

"In 2008, we had 16 teams and countries like Serbia, Belgium, Norway and all four nations from the United Kingdom missed out on the finals. Now, these national teams have a better opportunity of competing in the championship, making the tournament more attractive from various aspects."

General secretary Gianni Infantino also reiterated UEFA's hard stance on corruption as more cases are currently under investigation.

"UEFA has zero tolerance on match-fixing offenders. Whoever is found guilty faces a life-long ban from the game," Infantino said.

"Last year, we introduced a betting fraud detection system that monitors all matches from various competitions. Each year we monitor thousands of matches and we are in constant communication with the authorities to make sure that those who are caught face criminal charges.

"Corruption has no place in football and we will do all in our powers to make sure the game remains clean."

Exco decisions

• Agreement on European Championship 2016 bid process timeline. Key dates - Feb. 15 (bid dossiers handover); May 27 (presentations in Nyon); May 28 (final presentations by bidders and voting by Exco).

• Approval of the appointment of Theodore Theodoridis as UEFA deputy general secretary.

• Appointment of Benfica as host of 2009/10 Futsal Cup finals.

• Approval of Regions Cup regulations 2010/11.

• Addition of five associations (Cyprus, Italy, Lithuania, Moldova and Wales) to the UEFA Referee Convention.