Tuesday’s friendly against Italy (20:45 CET) will be the first time that FIFA’s “Video Assistant Referee” will be used in a match involving the Germany national team. The technology involves an assistant being able to review decisions taken on the pitch by the referee on a TV screen. It will be just the second trial of the relatively new technology in an international match. The first international fixture in which it was tested also involved Italy, as they faced France at the start of September. In the Bundesliga, video replays have only been tested “offline”, meaning there’s been no contact between the referee on the pitch and the assistant watching the replays.

Soares Dias and his Portuguese referee team will be in charge of Tuesday’s encounter, with fellow countryman Manuel de Sousa being the man in front of the screen, reviewing the decisions. De Sousa will be able to correct important incorrect decisions regarding goals, red cards, penalties or unpunished violent conduct. Hellmut Krug, member of the DFB’s Elite Referee’s Committee and the Referees Manager of the DFL, will act as the supervisor on site in Milan.

“We’ve been practising since the start of the start of the season, our referees are being trained,” noted Kurg in Milan today. “It’s hard to determine what a completely incorrect decision is. Firstly, you have to get a feeling for the scenario – it’s not that easy to implement.” Krug went on to explain that in the “offline” trials so far in Germany, “correcting a clearly wrong decision wouldn’t have taken more than 15 or 20 seconds.”

Van Basten: “Football will remain the same”

Video replay should be “online” for the 2017/2018 Bundesliga season, but the video referees will have to hold the relevant qualifications for the job. According to Krug, there will be “exclusive Bundesliga referees”. A final decision as to whether video replays will be introduced will be made by the International Football Association Board (IFAB) in 2018 at the earliest. “The system is being put through its paces,” said IFAB director Lukas Brud.

The basic principle of football will not be challenged as a result of video technology being introduced. “Football will remain the same”, emphasised former world class striker, Marco Van Basten, who is a FIFA representative for the development of technology. “We have an extra pair of eyes which will help the referee on the field. Football will be more honest as a result. That is all that we are looking to achieve, that the right decisions are being made on the pitch.