Friday 10 March 2017 09:34, UK
The introduction of video replays to help referees could be the "most significant change" in football's history, according to the game’s lawmakers.
Nearly 20 competitions around the world will use live experiments from a Video Assistant Referee (VAR) this year, involving countries which include Brazil, Germany, Italy, Netherlands and USA.
The system is expected to be used in England next season, from the FA Cup third round, but there are no current plans to introduce live tests in the Premier League or other competitions.
The International Football Association Board (IFAB), the game's lawmakers, approved a two-year experiment last year.
"This will be the most radical change in football for more than a century," David Elleray, IFAB Technical Director, told Sky Sports News HQ. "I think video assistant refereeing is probably one of the most significant phases in football. The aim is minimum interference, maximum benefit.
"What we want is not the game to become an American football stop-start; we want to preserve the essential flow and emotion of football. But we want to have an opportunity during a match to correct clear errors which impact on the outcome of that game."
Video referees can only review the following 'game-changing' decisions and incidents:
Offsides will also be reviewed if they lead to an obvious major error.
Ibrahimovic and Mings received retrospective bans for violent conduct, after their incidents were missed by match officials on March 4.
Mings was banned for five games, following an independent hearing on Wednesday, and Ibrahimovic will serve a three-match ban after he admitted the charge. A serious clash would have qualified for a video review, using the proposed new system.
"In a situation where you have a clash between two players, or two potential red card incidents, if that's not seen by the referee then the VAR will check it," Elleray added.
"If the VAR believes a potential red card has been missed they will inform the referee, the referee will give a clear signal, and either wait for information from the VAR or go and look at it and make a decision there and then."
The Premier League has no current plans to adopt live trials from next season, although it has been conducting non-live tests with select referees since last August.
Elleray, a former Premier League referee, says officials are under no time pressure to review incidents.
"Accuracy is much more important than speed," he said. "I think we should remember that the FA has been at the forefront of asking to use technology where it can benefit football. The FA was the country which pushed for goal-line technology, the first country to use it in a major league. It's very exciting that, if the experiment continues well, the FA will use it from the third round onwards in the FA Cup next season."
Elleray added: "You can go back when a goal has been scored, or a penalty awarded, you can go back to the start of the attacking move that led to that goal or penalty incident. But you can't review any restart decisions.
"The laws of the game say that once a referee has given a decision, (such as a) goal kick, corner kick, throw in, free kick, and play has restarted, that decision cannot be changed. Video replays will not be used to look at original restart decisions.
"A goal from a corner kick, which should have been a goal kick, will remain a goal because once the corner kick is taken then you can't change that decision.
"I think we want referees to carry on refereeing as they are, to try and not make mistakes. We want that to continue. We don't want referees to rely on the VAR, so they always have to give a decision."
FIFA will use VARs at this summer's Confederations Cup, and would like to use it at the World Cup in Russia subject to further approval from lawmakers.
