Asia's football body said Thursday it would use extra referees to help stamp out goalmouth controversies in its top competitions, falling into line with Europe. The additional assistant referees will patrol each goal area, helping out with the goal line, penalty and offside decisions that can be critical to a game's outcome. They will be used from the quarter-finals of next year's AFC Champions League and AFC Cup, and also at the national-level Asian Cup in the United Arab Emirates in 2019.
An Asian Football Confederation statement said the assistants would "give referees additional support when a decision has to be taken around the penalty area, to help make decisions on the goal line and assist in making offside decisions". It follows a steady flow of incidents, including Japan's disallowed goal in this month's 2-1 World Cup qualifying loss to UAE, when the ball clearly crossed the line.
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