Soccer-From the whistle to sci-fi cameras, soccer refereeing has come a long way

FILE PHOTO: Soccer Football - World Cup - Group B - Iran vs Portugal - Mordovia Arena, Saransk, Russia - June 25, 2018 Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo is shown a yellow card by referee Enrique Caceres REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson

(Reuters) - The founders of association football envisaged a game without a referee when they drafted the first Laws of the Game in 1863, so what they would have made of the advanced technology that will assist decision making at this year's World Cup is anyone's guess.

But from the time when a whistle was introduced in the 1870s to the semi-automated offside technology that will assist the Video Assistant Referee in Qatar, using cameras in the stadium and a chip in the ball, officiating of the game has continued to evolve – although at no more a pace than in the past 15 years.