A PILOT project next week could lead to the A-League following the lead of the European Champions League and using extra referees behind each goal.

Acutely aware of the continued criticism of refereeing standards in the A-League, A-League bosses will experiment at next week's State Institute Challenge in Canberra with the extra officials, assistant referees who monitor the play in the penalty area.

Though the concept has been used in the Champions League and European championship games since 2010-11, and in the Europa League two years before that, Football Federation Australia wants its own evaluation - and if it's judged a success, is likely to become a preferred option in the effort to raise officiating standards.News_Image_File: Gary Van Egmond vents his frustration at an assistant referee.

UEFA introduced the extra officials as the brainchild of president Michel Platini, as a more wide-ranging solution than goal line technology in the context of appraising key incidents.

A video by UEFA referees chief Pierluigi Collina uses the closed-circuit audio between officials to demonstrate the assistants advising the referees on penalty calls, corners and diving as well as whether the ball had crossed the line in disputed goals.

It's also meant to allow the existing assistant referees to concentrate on getting off-side calls correct and not also look for other fouls.

Australian refereeing bosses have noted that it could be used as a quick and relatively inexpensive way of helping A-League referees, who have come under fire for not keeping pace with the increased professionalism of the competition.

A major review has been ongoing for months examining myriad ways of improving the quality of referees here, and is likely to recommend the introduction of a group of four to five professional and full-time referees when its completed next year.News_Rich_Media: Round Seven of the A-League is in the bag, the Jets 3-1 win over Melbourne Heart completing what was a succcesful weekend for four of the five home teams. Here's our look at all the goals.

But A-League boss Damien De Bohun said the extra officials would also become a serious option if the trial proved successful.

"Clearly we're not going to the trouble of running a pilot like this just for theoretical reasons, if it seems to improve the quality of decision-making then it becomes something we'll look at seriously," he said.

"I can't say to you now that we have a specific date by which it will be introduced, but it's a really, really interesting option for us to consider.

"Ultimately it all comes down to improving the quality and accuracy of the decisions taken at key moments that affect games. Having an extra pair of eyes for the referee could well help in that respect."

Both FIFA and the English Premier League have opted to introduce goal line technology, but that has been ruled out here on cost grounds.

Originally published as A-League to trial goal line referee