Five-official trials to continue

The innovative experiment involving five match officials will continue in the UEFA Europa League group stage in September, UEFA's Executive Committee heard at its meeting in Vilnius, Lithuania, on Thursday.

IFAB approval
The test follows the approval of the FIFA Executive Committee at its May meeting in Nassau, Bahamas. Football's lawmakers, the International FA Board (IFAB), gave the go-ahead for the continuation of the experiment at its annual general meeting in the spring. In addition to the match referee and two assistant referees on the touchline, two extra assistants are placed behind the goalline, with the mission of focusing on incidents that happen in the penalty area, such as fouls or misconduct.

Successful trial
The initial experiment with two additional assistant referees was conducted at UEFA European Under-19 Championship mini-tournaments late last year, and feedback was extremely positive from both match officials and observers. After receiving a report on the experiment, the IFAB gave permission for its continuation, this time in a professional league. Consequently, this experiment will start on Thursday 17 September in the UEFA Europa League group games, and will carry on through just over 200 matches until the end of the competition.

Final decision
"It was decided that the tests should be carried out in a major competition, and the UEFA Europa League lent itself to this," said UEFA President Michel Platini. "[Everyone] can watch [the tests] on TV, and the IFAB will eventually take a positive or negative decision." If the IFAB's future decision is favourable, Mr Platini said that UEFA would move to introduce the system for all of its European competitions.

Financial fair play
At its meeting in Vilnius, the Executive Committee also discussed the issue of financial fair play. UEFA is initiating efforts to strengthen its club licensing system by looking at additional measures to ensure that UEFA's competitions remain fair and balanced, and that clubs work within their financial means.

Next steps
"There is a lot of work that needs to be done," said UEFA General Secretary David Taylor. "We discussed the principles and the timetable which we need to follow. One of the principal steps is to discuss the matter with the clubs, players and leagues at the next meeting of the Professional Football Strategy Council at the end of August. Our next major step will be the setting up of our financial control panel, and that will be done at the next Executive Committee meeting in September."

Green light
The control panel's launch was given the green light by the Executive Committee at its meeting in Copenhagen in March. At UEFA level, the body will comprise financial and legal experts, and will ensure that the club licensing system is applied correctly.

'Key principle'
"The key principle on the road towards a fairer and more transparent game is that football should reward those clubs living within their means," said UEFA in a statement on Thursday. "This means that clubs shall need to reduce their spending. To be viable, salaries and transfers should be proportionate to the generated income. Clubs should invest in their youth sectors, and use their homegrown talent to reinforce their squads. UEFA and the clubs are therefore committed to working together on the concept of financial fair play to curb excessive spending and promote investments for the long-term health of club football."

Other decisions
In other decisions, the Executive Committee agreed a donation of CHF 1m to the Italian Football Federation for football and sports facilities in the Abruzzo region affected by the recent earthquake, and accepted the continuation of a Baltic League in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, for the seasons up to and including 2011/12.