Fifa back-pedals on goal line technology

It appears FIFA President Sepp Blatter isn't quite so keen after all to introduce goal-line technology into top-flight football. Following England's disallowed goal in last month's defeat to Germany in the World Cup - even though TV replays showed Frank Lampard's shot bounced a metre over the line - Blatter confessed that the time had come to discuss the implementation of technology that would eradicate such glaring errors in future.

Asked at the end of the World Cup when the game's governing body would sit down and examine the issue, the 74-year-old Blatter promised it would be at the "first opportunity", also admitting that: "It is obvious that after the experience so far in this World Cup, it would be a nonsense to not re-open the file of technology at the business meeting of the International FA Board in July."

That meeting of the technical sub-committee of the International Football Association Board (IFAB) takes place tomorrow and Thursday in Cardiff but according to a FIFA spokesman there's only one item on the agenda and that's the somewhat less controversial issue of whether to continue the experiment of using additional assistant referees.

"The meeting this week is purely to ratify any requests that have come forward over the implementation of the assistant referees experiment, which was used last year in the Europa League," the spokesman declared, adding: "The first formal meeting where that discussion [concerning goal-line technology] could take place is in October."

IFAB last mooted the idea of introducing goal-line technology into the game in March, but the proposal was voted down with cost being cited as the primary reason. But later Blatter couldn't resist indulging in some characteristic pomposity, writing on the official FIFA website: "The game must be played in the same way no matter where you are in the world. If you are coaching a group of teenagers in any small town around the world, they will be playing with the same rules as the professional players they see on TV."

Ignoring the fact that sports such as cricket, tennis and rugby have all made successful use of video technology in recent years, Blatter also tried to deflect attention from his Luddism by defending the role of the referee: "No matter which technology is applied, at the end of the day a decision will have to be taken by a human being," he said. "This being the case, why remove the responsibility from the referee to give it to someone else?" ·