5 rule changes that will improve the game of football

Football! The world’s most popular sport – played and followed by billions around the planet. It’s no wonder that FIFA has a membership of 209 national associations! Every four years, the World Cup is the showpiece event that brings the entire planet to a standstill. As Bill Shankly once said, this game is more serious than “life and death”.But on the whole, unlike various other sports, the game has not changed much to keep up with the times. Once averse to technology, FIFA has finally adopted a few changes, like Goal-Line Technology, to get fair results and it has proven to be instrumental in the recently concluded World Cup in Brazil.Although it is a welcome sight, what else can be changed to make football evolve into something more? What can be done to revolutionize the game while being fair to the teams and retaining the sacred principles it is bound by?Here are five viable rule changes that can be enforced to improve the game.

#1 One extra substitute in Extra Time

Teams are allowed to make a total of three substitutions during the game. And a normal game sees the final whistle after 90 minutes (plus added on injury time which usually never goes beyond five minutes).But its during the knock-out stages of major tournaments that we see matches go into extra time to decide the winner when the scores are tied.

International tournaments see teams playing more than two games a week while teams playing tournaments like the Champions League end up playing thrice in the span of seven days.It is no wonder that fatigue plays an importantfactor in deciding the outcome of a game.

Yes, a stronger squad always helps. But a 23-man squadcounts for nothing once the starting XI is announced and the game is underway.

More often than not, Extra Time sees almost no action as teams play safe, opting to take their chances in the penalty shootout rather than concede a goal and be put under pressure to score. A majority of the teams would have already made their three substitutions so allowing one more player to take the field will improve their chances of scoring a goal (unless, of course, it is a Van Gaal-inspired goalkeeper substitution).

Inject some pace to take advantage of some tired legs, get a lethal striker on to take advantage of the defender being cautious due to a yellow card there are so many options for managers who dont have to save one substitute for ET when they know the game will not be settled in 90 minutes.

The extra substitute also gives the team an advantage with respect to injuries in ET. With 30 extra minutes to play, an injury to a player who has to come off leaves just 10 men on the field with the task of getting a result. One extra substitute will help balance the contest without changing the equation.

Proposed rule change: One extra substitute only to be used if the game goes into Extra Time and not during the 90 minutes.

#2 Fouled player to take the penalty kick

Penalty!The single most dreaded word in football.

It puts goalkeepers in their most vulnerable position. It makes defenders sweat when a player gets into the box with the ball at their feet trying their level best not to concede a foul while simultaneously keeping their hands out of the way, lest the whistle is blown for a handball. The one time fans from both sides pray as one either for a goal or a save.

So why not make it a little more interesting? Why not ask the player who was fouled to take the penalty?

Every team has a designated penalty taker who steps up when a spot kick is awarded. More often than not,it is the strikerliterally taking things into his own hands as he grabs the ball and places it on the spot. What if we eliminated that option?

Let a winger or a midfielder who was brought down take the burden of scoring after winning the foul. Let them earn the rewards and adulation that comes with scoring a goal. Give the goalkeeper a chance to believe that he can make a save. Make it a lottery!

A few stipulations for this rule:-

  • Do not allow the fouled player to be substituted until the penalty kick is taken. This ensures that the manager cant throw in another player just so that the designated penalty taker can take the spot kick.
  • Allow the designated penalty taker to take the spot kick only if it was a handball or the fouled player cannot continue due to an injury and has to be substituted.

Proposed rule change: Only the player who was fouled in the box can take the penalty kick (does not apply to handballs).

#3 Fourth official to use Video Replays

The idea of using video replays was introduced in leagues like the NBA and NFL a long time ago. Butit has been discarded time and again by FIFA who refuse to ruin the sanctity of the game. Fans are also against the idea as it ruins the flow of the game.

Really? Doesntthe so called continuity of the game come to a screeching halt while players surround the referee arguing their case, pleading for a foul and a booking? Isnt the game completely stopped to treat an injured player lying on the turf?

How many times have we seen decisions go disastrously wrong? Decisions with consequences that literally cost millions at the expense of being knocked out sooner than expected.Decisions that cost players a lifelong dream of playing in a final. Decisions that allowed guilty parties who escaped bookingsto decide the finaloutcome of the match.

The solution is simple. Give the fourth official (or an extramatch official near the touchline) access to a TV screen to watch replays. They can then relay their verdict to the on field referee,who should be allowed to reverse any wrong decision made. All it would take is probably 30 seconds to watch a couple of replays and communicate with the referee.

This is a proposition that would work only in the top leagues with some significant investment required. But the fourth official (usually respected referees) need to be given more duties than just signalling substitutions and calming down/separating furious managers.

To make it a little more viable, allow video replays only for crucial decisions like penalties, red card challenges and offside decisions where a goal was scored.

Proposed rule change: Give fourth official 30 seconds to watch video replay to make the correct decision and communicate with the on field referee.

#4 Retrospective bans for deliberate diving

Diving is the biggest scourge of football that needs to be done away with once and for all.But are FIFA, UEFA or countries respective FAs doing anything about it? The answer is a resounding NO!

All they do is hide behind the referees match reports citing existing rules which state that any action can only be taken if the referee jots it down in his match report (although violent acts like biting are excluded).

Referees do give yellow cards if they see that a player has dived to win a free kick or a penalty. But there are times when the referee and linesmanare the only ones in the stadium who failto notice such deliberate acts of diving that make 40,000 people roar in anger and then frustration as a decision goes against the defender.

Players like Luis Suarez, Arjen Robben andNeymar have been in the limelight for such acts and it hurts rival teams when they go unpunished. What makes it worse is when they feign injury and signal the bench, only to get back on their feet immediately after their team wins the ball back.

Gary Neville once said that players diving wasnt exactly black-and-white and that they could go down to avoid injuries. But weve seen a number of players dive at the drop of a hat with absolutely no contact or no danger of anything resembling a leg-breaking challenge coming their way.

Hence, bans for diving must be doled out to cleanse the game we all love. Football can take a cue from the NBA who fine players for flopping (the equivalent of diving) after watching video replays.

Proposed rule change: Retrospective bans by Football Associations for players who deliberately dive (after reviewing video evidence). Repeated offences to be given stricter punishments by extending bans.

#5 Players to be sent to Sin Bins for 10 minutes

Sin bins are used in sports like ice hockey and rugby where players punished by the referee are made to sit out a certain period of the game, leaving that team a man short.

This is one way to bring order to proceedings when a sending off seems too harsh.

Picture this: Ex-Arsenal striker Robin van Persie was sent off at the Camp Nou in a 2011 Champions League game against Barcelona for a second yellow card when he wait for it took a shot on goal after the referee had stopped play a second earlier.

The Dutch striker vehemently protested his innocence, claiming that he didnt hear the whistle with more than 90,000 spectators making noise inside the stadium. But the referee wasnt to be moved and he effectively killed the contest for the silliest of sending offs in the history of the game.

What if he didnt have to be sent off? What if he was made to sit out by the touchline for 10 minutes? Wouldnt that have helped the game? Barcelona would have piled on the pressure knowing they had 10 minutes to take advantage of 10-man Arsenal, while the Gunners would have tried to hold on knowing that Van Persie would be back on the pitch soon instead of watching the game from the dressing room.

UEFA chief Michel Platini was also quoted early thisyear, I would make it like rugby, punishing the offender with 10 or 15 minutes out of the game.

Proposed rule change: Players cautioned for smaller offences that dont deem a sending off (but require punishment)to be sent to the Sin Bin for 10 minutes.

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Edited by Staff Editor