Gianni Infantino, the new president of world’s football governing body, believes football cannot ignore technology any longer.
Infantino, 45, is in Cardiff ahead of the International Football Association Board’s annual general meeting where they are expected to give the go-ahead to live video trials to help officials.
Sin bins and the possibility of allowing a fourth substitute in extra time in cup competitions will also be on the agenda on Saturday, according to Reuters.
But video technology could send football into a new era and Infantino knows the IFAB must get it right before anything is given the official green light.
“Technology is on the agenda, the experiments to be done are on the agenda and it’s important to protect the traditions,” he said.
“Football is such a successful sport because some wise people have protected the history but we cannot close our eyes to progress.
“We have to look forward. Look into it, test it; maybe it’s successful, maybe it’s not. Maybe we have to fine-tune it and maybe it takes a few more years to reach the right solution.
“Football has a particularity which is the flow of the game and we have to see what impact technology has.
“We are confident we can come out with something good at some stage. I am not afraid of anything. We have to acknowledge we are in 2016 and we have to be open.”
The English and Scottish football associations are keen to trial video technology that would aid officials with goals, red cards, penalties and mistaken identities.
Infantino hoped to see trials in as many places as possible in the world but also in England and Scotland.
“I would like everyone to have an open mind about these things without prejudging what the results at the end will be. The recommendation is that this moves forward. We have to discuss it tomorrow,” he said.
“Sooner or later, it will be inevitable. Let’s start to do something sooner rather than later.”
