Senior French officials keen on introducing vanishing foam

Vanishing foam could be used in Ligue 1, Ligue 2 and the Coupe de la Ligue from 2014-15 onwards, officials confirmed on Thursday.

Deployed successfully at both the FIFA Club World Cup last year and the recent World Cup in Brazil, the spray is used by referees to mark where a free-kick should be taken and ensure opposition players stand the mandatory 10 yards away from the ball.

Ligue de Football Professionnel (LFP) president Frederic Thiriez has now revealed that it will be on the agenda when the French Football Federation’s executive committee meet later this month with a view to it being rolled out in the top two tiers of French football from this season, as well as in the Coupe de la Ligue.

“The vanishing foam is a big step towards minimising contestation and time-wasting,” Thiriez said.

“I’ve always been a supporter of any solution that can help our referees; the LFP was one of the first organisations to introduce microphones and ear buds for referees and now they are in common use in every big competition.

“What’s good for the referees is good for football.”