Malaysian FA, referees and fans were 'generally pleased' with the course of the experiment so far. But a Kuala Lumpur supporter sales executive Goh Chee Meng, pointed out that the experiment could fail if the flagging quality of referees in the country was not enhanced.

He said: 'It was interesting to see two referees on the field for the first time. But what's the point of having two referees on the field if both are equally inept? The standard of control at present is very poor because the FA seems to have problems in getting enough referees of sufficiently high quality as it is.

'It the scheme of using two referees per match is adopted permanently, imagine how much harder it will be to find men of the right experience and know-how.

'One bad referee on the pitch can spoil the game. Two bad referees on the pitch would wreck it completely.' The Malaysian experiment ends in December after which it will be tried in Egypt, the United States, Brazil and Italy. FIFA says that it will enforce the two referees rule world-wide within the next few years if the trials prove successful.

This conjures up the delicious prospect of the urbane David Elleray being challenged over a decision by the pugnacious Paul Durkin in front of a full house at Old Trafford. Wonder what Sir Alex Ferguson would say about that?

But problems have arisen, particularly in games where the referees are working diagonally and have stepped into their partner's territory. 'Having two referees on the field is an added obstruction to the players,' grumbled Selangor coach Abdul Mokhtar Ahmad. "There have been one or two instances when one of them has got in the way of a movement. "This has been very upsetting for the teams and if it happens too many times it can only lead to friction between the players and the referees.' Under FIFA instructions, both referees have equal responsibility and authority and must agree on the issue at hand before play can be resumed. That has set Abdul Mokhtar worrying about the prospect of a major disagreement between the two referees although one hasn't occurred so far. 'If they are at loggerheads, the match would degenerate into a farce,' he said.

Another area of concern that has been reported to the visiting FIFA man is the contrasting personalities of the referees. 'Apparently the less experienced referee tends to stand around and take his lead from the more experienced one. But that isn't the idea. We don't want one referee to shoulder 80 per cent of the job,' said Bouzo. 'The two referees must impose their own personality on the section of the field they are controlling and must make the decisions as they see the situation.'