Fifa blocks Wenger's plans to trial goalline technology

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has added his voice to calls for the introduction of goalline technology to the English Premier League - perhaps as early as the 2012/13 season. 

However, Fifa have blocked Arsenal from using goal-line technology in the Emirates Cup this weekend, according to ‘The Sun’.

The Gunners boss wanted to experiment by helping the officials in the games against Boca Juniors and New York Red Bulls.
 
Yet even though the matches are friendlies, Fifa will not allow the unofficial trial.
 
Fifa, having resisted previous calls to help officials via video, are allegedly ready to do a U-turn on technology - but not yet.

Wenger said: “You need permission to use it and we didn’t get it.
 
“I think they do not want to start to have a different set of rules here and there and I understand that.
 
“The good news is they are open to it and it looks like in the next World Cup we will have it.
 
“You want it so you have a better chance to make the right decisions. You know it could be a help for the referees.
 
“The more help they get, the more decisions they get right. I would like to use it for more than the goal-line but it’s a first step.”

Trials surrounding the technology were reopened by Fifa president Sepp Blatter after last year’s World Cup, during which England’s Frank Lampard was denied a clear goal against Germany. 
 
“You want it so you have a better chance to make the right decisions,” Wenger said on the club’s website (www.arsenal.com). 
 
“You know it could be a help for the referees. The more help they get, the more decisions they get right. If out of 100 decisions they get 95 right instead of 85, you have to use technology. 
 
“To reduce the number of mistakes as much as possible, I’m happy you can use it. And I would like to use it for more than goalline [incidents], but it’s a first step,” he added. 
 
Wenger’s backing follows an announcement by Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore that the start of the 2012/13 season was a “realistic aim” now that Fifa were “constructively engaged” in the debate surrounding the technology. 
 
Arsenal open their new season at Newcastle United on August 13.