World Club Cup to employ vanish spray

A vanishing spray which has been used in South America for several years to stop defensive walls encroaching at free kicks will feature at next month’s World Club Cup, FIFA has confirmed.

FIFA said the spray had been tested at this year’s Under-20 and Under-17 World Cups with “very good overall feedback from the participating referees.”

Referees mark out the 10-yard distance between the ball and the nearest defender before spraying a line on the pitch to mark the correct position of the wall. The line then disappears from the pitch within a minute.

“A large majority of the officials considered the spray as a useful and helpful tool,” said FIFA’s head of refereeing Massimo Busacca.

“The spray has a clear preventive effect: The distance was always respected, so no yellow card for not respecting the distance had to be given throughout the two tournaments played so far.

“After the World Club Cup in Morocco further evaluations will be made. We will review the results and discuss if the spray will be used also in future FIFA competitions.”

So, the prospect of the vanishing spray being used at next year’s World Cup cannot be ruled out.