Live trials of video technology in football could begin next season after the game's law-making body recommended experiments be given the green light.
The trials will allow referees to call on video assistance to help determine four categories of "game changing" moments: goals scored, red cards, penalties and mistaken identity.
Officials will seek at least two seasons of trial data, meaning it could be adopted in the professional game by 2018.
The go-ahead is expected to be approved at the International Football Association Board annual general meeting in Cardiff on 4-6 March.
If agreed, the IFAB will work on protocols for the testing program, with a range of options trialled to determine the best solution.
Various approaches will be trialled, including: allowing only the referee to call for assistance from a video assistant official; allowing the video official to interject; and allowing referees to view replays on the side of the pitch.
A proposal to allow coaches and managers to appeal decisions was not approved.
A key consideration will be preventing any change slowing down the game. Delays of two or three minutes are common in rugby but football will want a speedier process.
Football already uses goal-line technology but wider use of video assistance has been resisted.
"We have to try to experiment before we make any final decision," said Jonathan Ford, the IFAB chair and chief executive of the Welsh FA.
"Referees will still be the person in charge of the match but we will examine ways in which they can be assisted. We want to protect the integrity of the game at all costs."
The English FA says it is keen to trial systems once the testing protocol has been approved, but is wary of anything that fundamentally changes the game.
"We have to mix being accurate with affecting a hugely popular consumer product," the FA said. "If we get rid of all decisions we will end up with a completely different game and we won't like it, so we have to see how it will work."
The Scottish FA would be keen to use trials in the Scottish Cup.
"It's something I would like to see pushed forward," said Stewart Regan, the SFA chief executive.
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