line video technology remains on FIFA's agenda for October after football's governing body confirmed that its lawmaking panel will not discuss the issue at its meeting this week. The International Football Association Board (soccer's law-making body) meets in Cardiff Wednesday but FIFA says “the only point on the agenda” is the continuing experiment with extra assistant referees behind the goals. The system was tested in last season's Europa League. FIFA president Sepp Blatter last month said IFAB would look at goal-line technology this week following his apology to England and Mexico for the officiating errors that helped eliminate them from the World Cup. On July 8, he said the matter would be on the agenda in October. Following England's disallowed goal against Germany in the second round of the World Cup on June 27, Blatter said “it would be a nonsense not to reopen the file on goalline technology”. “We will look again at goalline technology at the business meeting of the IFAB in Cardiff in July,” Blatter had promised. But a FIFA statement Monday confirmed: “the only point on the agenda will be the review and eventual approval of the requests made by various confederations and member associations of FIFA to implement the experiments with two additional assistant referees for (the next two seasons).” The debate was re-ignited after a shot from England midfielder Frank Lampard landed a meter over the goalline after hitting the bar but was not spotted by the referee or his assistant despite millions around the world seeing clearly a legitimate goal had been scored. The earliest date for any debate about goalline technology would be at the next IFAB business meeting in October. Any law-changing decision on goalline technology would not be taken until IFAB's next annual meeting in March next year. IFAB, which conisists of one representative from each of the four British associations and four from FIFA, rejected the implementation of goalline technology in March. IFAB sanctioned the first experiment with goalline technology in 2006, but a chip-in-the-ball system used at the World Under-17 championships and Club World Cup matches in 2007 proved inconclusive and has not been used since.
