Football's lawmakers "are poised to give the go-ahead for video referees to be used across the game from next season" -- and even at this summer's World Cup, according to Martyn Ziegler of the LONDON TIMES. Officials from the Int'l FA Board will meet in Zurich on Jan. 22 and will make an "indicative decision" on whether video assistant referees will be permitted. IFAB Technical Dir David Elleray, a former referee, said that trials of VAR systems "had enjoyed very promising results." He added that the delegates at IFAB's business meeting "would make the decision," and other IFAB sources said that it "is likely that the go-ahead will be given, with the move ratified at the body's annual general meeting in March." Each individual league and governing body "could then take the decision to introduce the technology," with Premier League chairs voting at a meeting in April "once they have seen" how trials in the U.K. and abroad have gone. It would "also mean that the system could be in use at the World Cup in Russia" if FIFA decides to adopt the technology. English football's "first competitive trial will not take place until Monday," when Brighton & Hove Albion plays Crystal Palace in the FA Cup third round. Although the VAR trials "have thrown up some issues, they have shown that once match officials become used to the system it usually operates very well" (LONDON TIMES, 1/4).
