The International Football Association Board (IFAB), who are effectively world soccer's law makers, have decided that they won't sanction any further research into the use of goal-line technology such as the Hawkeye system used in cricket and tennis and will instead be proposing a new trial of two extra assistant referees behind the goals to adjudicate in instances of dispute of whether the ball has crossed the line.

The English FA had been planning to introduce Hawkeye at the top level as soon as 2009 and the IFAB's decision will come as a hammer blow to them and the Hawkeye company who have spent a fortune testing the equipment, only now with no prospect of financial return.

The two extra assistant referees plan is a complete farce as it still leaves decisions open to human error as there will always be occasions where the assistant will be unsighted and will have to use his/her judgement to make the call on whether a goal has been scored or not. Technology, even if only used at the very highest professional level, would have eliminated this confusion once and for all and I'm very disappointed to see FIFA turn their backs on the idea.