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

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.

When the first Laws were drawn up there was no provision for a referee.

"There was an assumption that a gentleman would never deliberately commit a foul. Amid the increased competitiveness, however, the penalty, or as it was originally called 'the kick of death', was introduced as one of a number of dramatic changes in 1891," says a history of the Laws of the Game published by FIFA.

"Penalties had to be awarded by someone and following a proposal from the Irish Association, the referee was allowed on to the field of play. True to its gentlemanly beginnings, disputes were originally settled by the two team captains, but, as the stakes grew, so did the number of complaints."

Over the decades that followed, the referee would gain two assistants, or linesmen, to help his decision making but it was only after the advent of television coverage of the sport, and much closer scrutiny of officiating, that a rapid evolution of refereeing aids were introduced.

England's Premier League was the first to work on goal line technology, but their initial efforts at implementing it were rejected by the International Football Association Board, who are the custodians of the Laws.