Italy's Pierluigi Collina, seen by many as the world's top referee when he retired in 2005, has backed FIFA Chief Sepp Blatter's proposal of a 'sin bin' for soccer players who dive and fake injury.
Blatter would like refs to have the power to send off players for five minutes if they play act in order to waste time, get an opponent booked or win a free-kick or penalty.
Collina, who is now the selector of match officials for Serie A and B, said he had nothing against idea so long as "the innovation does not overload referees with more responsibility".
The comment suggests that Collina wants an off-field official to keep tabs on the time sin-binned players must stay out of the game.
The sin bin is successfully used as a disciplinary measure in other sports, including rugby union.
Advocates say it could be useful when a yellow card might not seem enough, because it has no immediate consequences, but a red card would be too severe a penalty.
"The number of players who dive or pretend to have been hit by an opponent has become intolerable," Blatter said on Saturday.
"A temporary sending-off of five-minutes would be a good idea to stop this trend.
"I'm sure it will be proposed to the International Board (soccer's rule-making body) at next year's meeting in March".
The President of the Italian Referees Association (AIA) Cesare Gussoni also said he was in favour of the proposal on Monday.
Collina's green light came at a press conference at the end of the Serie A and B refs pre-season training camp.
He has said he is not going to limit himself to selecting referees and assistants in his new job, but will take a hands-on approach, giving officials fitness and technical training too.
"Refs can't take the field just knowing the rules. They also have to be perfectly trained," he said after being appointed.
"I'll train and use the refs at my disposal while also moulding them into four-man teams," he added, referring to the two assistant refs and the fourth official.
Collina, whose bald head and penetrating stare helped build his celebrity status, retired from refereeing in 2005.
He is considered by many to be soccer's greatest ever ref.
He is respected here for his impartiality and his appointment should help restore faith in Italy's referees, damaged by last year's Calciopoli scandal.
Voted the world's best ref a record six times, Collina has officiated some of the sport's biggest games.
These include the 1999 European Champions League Final between Manchester United and Bayern Munich and the 2002 World Cup Final between Brazil and Germany.
