UEFA president Michel Platini was impressed with the first official trials deploying additional linesmen, his special adviser William Gaillard told media on Monday.

Platini attended a European under-19 championship qualifying tournament in Slovenia at the weekend to see the first competitive test involving two extra linesmen monitoring the penalty areas at each end of the pitch.

The head of European soccer's governing body believes the two additional officials can help alert referees to fouls in the area or diving incidents while avoiding the need to introduce potentially disruptive video replays.

"He saw it all in action over the weekend and after talking to the referees, players and coaches he really feels it is a good way to solve the problems that everybody is talking about," Gaillard said.

"It is a system that respects the history and tradition of the game because the referee remains the supreme commander on the pitch.

"The assistants in the penalty area only communicate with him via their headsets. So if the referee wants to not take into account what they say he can ignore it and nobody sees what is going on."

Gaillard said UEFA would carry out two further trials at under-19 level, in Hungary later this month and in Cyprus at the end of November.

The idea cannot be implemented on a wider scale without the approval of world soccer's governing body FIFA and the International Football Association Board (IFAB) which rules on any proposed changes to the laws of the game.

(Agencies via China Daily October 15, 2008)