PETITION - FOOTBALL CHANGES
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PETITION - FOOTBALL CHANGES
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Introduction
There have been many
rule changes to football in recent years, which were intended to make the game
a more flowing spectacle for supporters. In truth, what the rule changes have
done is to continually stop the flow of the game and produce a succession of
red cards.
In days gone by, a red
card in top level football made big news. In today's game, a weekend without
a red card in any top league would be far more rare! The supposed purpose of
increasing the number of red cards was that it would create more space for skilled
players to play in, thus improving the game. In practise, it does the opposite!
Instead of having 22 players on a field, you are left with 21 players on half
off a field, as the team with 10 men sit back and try to defend for their lives!
Gone are the days when
players looked to take on and beat players. Diego Maradona scored one of the
best goals of all time against England in 1986, when he picked the ball up in
his own half, showed a great piece of skill to beat two England players and
start a run down the right side. After leaving other players in his wake, he
skipped a tackle on the edge of the box and was tackled again as he took his
shot. It was a brilliant goal that simply wouldn't have happened today. In today's
game, he would have simply gone down before reaching the half way line. At best,
he would have gone down from the challenge on the edge of the box, looking for
the free kick, which would be almost guaranteed. In truth, the rule changes
of recent years have removed the skilful play from the game, not increased it!
As well as the fact that
it doesn't have the required effect of allowing space for skilled players, reducing
a team to 10 men also kills the game off as a contest, making it less exciting
for the paying public!
The object of the rule
changes in recent years, was to allow room for the more skilled players to play.
However, the biggest skill in the game today, seems to be the ability to 'win'
a free kick.
The purpose of this campaign
is to try and find a way to reduce the number of free kicks and sendings off,
without increasing the amount of foul play, thus giving the paying public a
better game to watch, while keeping 22 men on the pitch as often as possible.
The intention is to gain
as many signatures as possible on the petition, which will then be sent to FIFA,
UEFA, the FA, the Football League, the League Managers Association, the Professional
Footballers Association and the referees association, with a view to asking
FIFA to amend its rules accordingly.
Part
1 - Keeping the game moving
The game of football
is fast becoming a non-contact game, much to its detriment! Rarely does a passage
of play last for more than a minute without a stoppage for a foul. The proposal
in this section is to reduce the number of free kicks being awarded. The purpose
is not to allow more foul play, but to make a more sensible definition of foul
play. What is being proposed is simply to allow play to continue, when the contact
made, was not as a direct action of the player penalised. Some examples may
be...
Player A kicks the ball.
Player B makes an effort to block the ball, a foot or two in front of player
A. The action of kicking the ball causes player A to follow through and kick
player B's foot. Currently, player B is penalised, though all he was doing was
attempting to block the ball
Player A is running with
the ball. Player B is making every effort to get alongside player A, in order
to make a tackle. Player A sees player B gaining on him at speed, so he cuts
across player B. Player B is running at speed and has no way of avoiding the
contact. Player A goes down and player B is penalised, even though he has made
no effort to bring player A down and the contact was clearly intentionally initiated
by player A. Again, in this instance, why penalise player B? Let the game carry
on!
Player A has the ball,
with nowhere to go, so he changes direction, runs straight into player B, who
has no time to react and get out of the way. Player A goes down and 'wins' the
free kick. Again, if player A has caused the contact, and player B has no time
to get out of the way, why penalise player B
Part
2 - Yellow cards for non-fouls
This suggestion is radical
and simply to try and reduce the number of times that a red card is issued for
two bookable offences. This suggestion is aimed at offences such as the following...
Dessent
Removing a shirt
Leaving the field of play
during a goal celebration
Offences such as these
have no impact on the game, nor on the opposition. It therefore seems a little
unfair that any punishment should affect the game, or benefit the opposition.
Therefore, what is proposed is that a third level of punishment is introduced,
in addition to the red and yellow cards. If the offence is something which doesn't
affect the game, or the opposition, then the player does not receive a yellow
card, but the offence is recorded by the referee and reported to the FA. The
offence is then punished by way of a fine or a ban for persistent offenders,
thus punishing the player, but not spoiling the game unnecessarily. Perhaps
for such offences, a different colour of card might be used (Green? Amber?)
Part
3 - The professional foul
The vast majority of
straight red cards issued are for a professional foul. In days gone by, the
professional foul was a foul committed by a defender, who realised that the
foul was a better option than letting a player run through on goal. Today's
rules have changed the whole meaning of the professional foul and has resulted
in several harsh sendings off, for players who have been clumsy, rather than
malicious in their actions.
The proposal here is
a little more radical. If the referee deems that an attacker has been denied
a clear goal-scoring opportunity, then that chance should be handed back to
him, by way of a penalty, whether the offence was inside the box or not. If,
in the eyes of the referee, the challenge was deliberate, issue a yellow card.
This, plus the penalty should be sufficient punishment. If, in the eyes of the
referee, the challenge was accidental, no card should be issued, but the attacker
should be given a penalty, as he has still been denied a goal scoring opportunity.
Again, as per the suggestion in part 1, if the attacker has initiated the contact,
then no punishment should be given to player B at all.
