Exclusive – FA chief on referees and why English football will not adopt ‘rugby style’ video technology

Darren Bailey, the Football Association Director of Football Governance and Regulation, joined Kick Off on Monday night to discuss the fallout from another Premier League weekend of controversial referee decisions.

Both Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho and West Ham boss Sam Allardyce were critical of officials following a host of high-profile calls, with former referees' chief Keith Hackett telling talkSPORT Martin Atkinson’s performance in Chelsea’s 1-1 draw with Burnley was arguably one of the worst in top flight history.

Britain's FIFA vice-president Jim Boyce responded by saying he had changed his mind over video technology, and that the implementation of video referees would be a great benefit to the game.

But Bailey disagrees, claiming “football doesn’t want to make the same mistake” as rugby, which he believes has sacrificed its spectatorship for more accurate refereeing.

He told Kick Off: “We will constantly review and evaluate [the system], and television and radio programs keep us on our toes and make sure we will do that.

“But I just think that sometimes we maybe underestimate what we have, which is a spontaneous game, played at high pace with great athletes, and we do not want to lose that.

“I am absolutely rock solid on the fact that technology has a place in the game, but I experienced in a previous profession a world of rugby that was spontaneous, swift and was re-set very quickly, but that is now bedevilled by delays.

“Most rugby fans are now asking to go back to the old days, and football doesn’t want to make that mistake.”