FIFA rules panel to study video replay options

Sepp-Blatter;-FIFA

FIFA President Sepp Blatter. (Leo Correa/AP)

ZURICH, Switzerland — FIFA says football’s rule-making panel is preparing to study options for video replays to help referees.

A call by FIFA President Sepp Blatter for coaches to challenge on-field decisions could be assessed when the International Football Association Board meets Nov. 24-25 in Belfast, Northern Ireland.

Meetings of the full IFAB panel and two new advisory groups will shape the agenda for a decision-making session scheduled Feb. 27-March 1.

Blatter’s proposal, which he put forward in a pre-recorded video for the SoccerEx conference in September, would have to be widely tested before getting IFAB approval.

Blatter said he wanted TV replays to be used in a domestic league and at the Under-20 World Cup in New Zealand in 2015. Coaches would have the right once or twice in each half to challenge a refereeing decision.

FIFA says the November meetings will look at using "sin bins" — removing players temporarily instead of dismissing them — in youth matches and modifying offside laws.

The football and technical advisory panels will look at the possible triple punishment of penalty, red card and suspension for some penalty-area fouls.

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