UEFA agrees to extra officials for big games

The 'five officials' experiment follows the trial in the Europa League using the same system which has been proposed by UEFA president Michel Platini as an alternative to technology.

The International FA Board, the game's rule-making body, last week gave the green light to two more seasons of experiments and UEFA's executive committee decided to implement the trials in their showcase competitions.

Platini said: "The two additional referees will give more flow to the game.

"The arrival of TV has shown up referees' mistakes – the referee sees a lot but with an extra four eyes you will see more things and you help the referee to take a better decision."

The FA, Premier League and Football League have said they are unlikely to experiment with the extra officials in any of their competitions.

Alex Horne has been appointed general secretary of the Football Association on a permanent basis to succeed Ian Watmore, who walked out as chief executive in March.

Horne, who was acting chief executive, was handed his new role following an FA board meeting yesterday where Roger Burden was also made acting chairman until a successor to succeed Lord Triesman is found.