Will Soccer Use Video Replay? FIFA's Gianni Infantino Pushing For Increased Use Of Technology

In a move that would mirror American football, world football — known stateside as soccer — is moving toward using video replay to help officials make the correct calls in matches. Newly elected FIFA President Gianni Infantino said tests with video replays need to get under way “sooner rather than later” in an interview published on the group's website Tuesday.

But part of what makes soccer the so-called beautiful game is the fact that the game remains flowing and without time-outs or television breaks, except for halftime. That's in stark contrast with NFL football, which features just about 11 minutes of actual gameplay in an about three-hour game. Infantino expressed that any use of new technology should not interfere with the soccer's unique gameplay style.

"One of the peculiarities of football is the flow of the game; it doesn't stop like many other sports, where you have the time to look at videos," he said. "We need to see what kind of impact any technological help will have on the flow of the game."

The International Football Association board, which decides the laws of the game, is scheduled to meet in the United Kingdom over the weekend and is expected to approve live tests of video technology, according to the Guardian. With the caveat of not impacting the quality of matches, the move would seemingly have the backing of Infantino.

"If the flow of the game is guaranteed, then I think we need to see how technology can help the game, but we need to start with serious tests, I think, sooner rather than later," he said in the FIFA interview.

Germany's top league, the Bundesliga, and the United States’ Major League Soccer have in the past indicated they would be interested in using video technology that would allow referees to correct decisions that were obviously incorrect. FIFA has already begun using technology that tells referees whether or not an entire ball crossed the goal-line, which a shot must do in order to count as a goal.

Watch the entire video of Infantino below, during which he discusses women's soccer, how he is a fan of the game and the World Cup, among other subjects: