Fifa president Gianni Infantino hopes video referees will be used at the 2018 World Cup

Fifa president Gianni Infantino wants the 2018 World Cup in Russia to be the first tournament where video referees assist officials with "game-changing" decisions. The Swiss-born president is a strong advocate of video technology and hopes the cutting-edge system is in place for the blue-ribboned event in two years' time.

The International Football Association Board (IFAB) confirmed in March that it would test technology over a two-year period, with the overarching ambition being to assist traditional officials with their decisions regarding goals, red cards, mistaken identities and penalties.

"This means that by March 2018 we will see if it works or not," Infantino explained, according to ESPN. "I really hope that the World Cup in Russia will be the first World Cup where video refereeing is used to make refereeing maybe better."

Infantino also responded to a recent report by Harvard professor John Ruggie, which raised concerns about Russia's outlawing of gay "propaganda" and attitudes towards migrant workers. "Fifa is not the world welfare agency but we have to be responsible about these things, we have to be responsible about the position we take about human rights," he said when asked about the report.

"We have to address all the issues and I think that these events give the opportunity to speak about topics which maybe are not pleasant, which maybe sometimes are not directly linked."