Eriksson backs video replays for referees
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Your support makes all the difference.Sven Goran Eriksson believes that referees should have the opportunity to use video replays to help them make difficult decisions on the pitch.
The England manager, who is in Sweden with his assistant, Tord Grip, was speaking at the annual seminar of the Stockholm side, AIK, during which he defended referees and the pressures they are put under.
Eriksson said: "People at home watching TV on their sofas know 30 seconds after the incident whether it was a penalty or not. Why not give referees the same chance?
"Let them watch a TV on the sidelines, if they want to. Then we could avoid questions about whether the ball was over the line or not. People can't expect the official to see everything. It's not easy to referee a football match and I don't think there would be a lot of stoppages during the game."
Eriksson also spoke about the standard of referees during the World Cup, where England lost to the eventual winners, Brazil, in the quarter-finals. He said: "The referees were good, but the linesmen missed a bit too much. If it's the World Cup you need to take the best referees and linesmen in the world."
Eriksson and Grip are in favour of the suggestion put forward by Fifa, the governing body of world football, that referees and linesmen should be grouped together from the same country and carry on as a team throughout tournaments.
Grip also confirmed that Steve McManaman, of Real Madrid, is not in England's plans. Grip had made that statement on a cable channel, Kanal Plus, before the live Premiership game between Newcastle and Everton on Sunday. "Steve McManaman has never really played a good match for England," Grip said.
McManaman has not been included in an England squad since being named for the final World Cup qualifier against Greece in October 2001.
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