Two Referees

Two referees on the pitch at the same time - it sounds like the ultimate nightmare for Patrick Vieira and Dennis Wise and would probably give Gordon Strachan a seizure.

But the idea could save the Premiership from the anarchy many fear is looming. While English soccer administrators have been complaining bout indiscipline on the field, a bold experiment to counter it has been yielding encouraging results 6,000 miles away.

The Malaysian Cup was selected by FIFA as the first testing ground for the idea of improving control of matches by using two referees as well as two linesmen.

First indications suggest that having two men instead on one closely scrutinising them is acting as a significant deterrent for the players.

The 17 matches since the experiment was launched two weeks ago have produced 54 yellow and four red cards, a reduction of 30 per cent on the average.

General Farouk Bouzo of Syria, a member of the FIFA Referees' Committee who visited Malaysia was pleased with the results so far. 'Officials note that fewer red and yellow cards have been flashed since the experiment began,' he said. 'Players realise there are now two

pairs of eyes focused on them. They are more reluctant to indulge in shirt-pulling and hair grabbing.

It has been left to the 48 referees involved in the experiment to decide how they divide the work. Some have opted to control one half each from the centre to the goal line. Others have drawn an imaginary diagonal line from one corner to another, while a few have used a vertical split to give them a full run from goal line to goal line.

'There are different views on the best way of controlling a match with two referees,' said George Joseph, head of the Malaysian referees department.

'The obvious answer is to put them to the test by trying them all and then studying the results. The various referees have their own ideas about this so once they have been divided into pairs we ask them to discuss it with each other and decide which method to use.' As in all debates concerning referees, verdicts vary. Cup-holders Kuala Lumpur have welcomed the move. 'Most of my players are enthusiastic about it,' said team coach Mat Zan Mat Aris. 'There are bound to be hiccups but we can expect a better standard of refereeing now. 'A referee operating on his own is bound to miss one or two things in a match either because a player is blocking his view, he is at the wrong angle to the incident or play has switched too quickly for him.'