When a free-kick is awarded near the penalty area, the referee paces the regulatory 10 yards from where the ball has been placed and then sprays a line on the pitch to mark the correct position where the defensive wall should stand. The line then disappears from the pitch within a minute.
The vanishing spray, developed by Brazilian Pablo Silva, has previously been used in matches in South America and Major League Soccer in the United States.
FIFA first introduced it at this year’s Under-20s World Cup in Turkey, and it was used at the 2011 Copa America in Argentina.
“It’s a novelty,” Blatter chortled. “We will start using it in the World Cup in Brazil.”
The magic spray and goal line tech are two innovations being introduced into World Cup 2014 to hopefully help decrease referee error.