Video assistant referee technology "could make its English football debut" in next season's English Football League Cup after CEO Shaun Harvey confirmed he was "looking at bringing it in from the first round," according to Ben Rumsby of the London TELEGRAPH. Harvey revealed the EFL would discuss "stealing a march" on the FA, which announced earlier this month that it would stage its own live trials in the FA Cup from the third round onward. Speaking after "two successful interventions" by the VAR in Tuesday's friendly between France and Spain, Harvey was "less cautious." Insisting the EFL Cup could "absolutely" be a "guinea pig" as early as August, he said, "Theoretically, it could happen from the first round of the EFL Cup, which would be a team no higher than the Championship down to League Two" (TELEGRAPH, 3/29).
'FUDGED COMPROMISE': REUTERS' Alan Baldwin reported former FA Chair David Bernstein said that proposed FA reforms are a "missed opportunity that will make no real change" and could end up as a "fudged compromise." Bernstein: "I don’t think they have done enough. I think there'll be enough to get the government to go along with it because they want an easy time, want to get it settled, but it won't be enough to make a real change." Anti-discrimination group Kick It Out described the proposed reforms as "a sham" that still "failed to give sufficient representation to minority groups" (REUTERS, 3/29).
'ENTHUSIASM FOR CHANGE': The BBC reported League Championship side Brighton & Hove Albion Manager Chris Hughton feels there is a "real enthusiasm for change" to provide equal opportunities for black managers in the English game. Hughton is one of three black first-team managers employed by England's 92 professional clubs. He is "keen for the change" he said that he has already seen at grassroots and in academies to be "replicated in first teams at the highest level." Hughton said, "There is no doubt that the balances are not right. It is going to be about talking around the table as much as possible, highlighting it as much as possible and looking to see change. Where I have seen change is at grassroots level and academy level. I think everybody wants to see that at first-team level up through the leagues" (BBC, 3/29).