16 football rules that drive us mad and must be changed http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/fo...es-that-drive-us-mad-and-must-be-changed.html
for those who cannot access in work Kicking the ball out when players get injured Not a rule as such, but a convention that no longer has any place in the game. And for what’s supposed to be an act of sportsmanship, it’s amazing how often this strange ritual never fails to generate maximum ill-feeling. This is because there are two false assumptions underpinning it. Firstly, that any player on the ground is in need of treatment. please log in to view this image Kicking the ball out of play for an injured player often enrages supporters And secondly, that the player on the ball can make an instant medical diagnosis of an opponent lying 70 yards away. Kicking the ball out may have had its roots in fair play and comradery, but it’s been exploited with ruthless cynicism by divers, time-wasters and cretins. If referees are too squeamish to stop an attack in full-flow, then either let play continue while players get treatment, or appoint a neutral doctor with the authority to stop play. Handball Honestly, nobody knows the handball rule. "He hasn't moved his hands towards the ball", "it's ball-to-hand", "it's not deliberate", they say in an offender's defence. The exact wording in the FA's rules says "A direct free kick [or penalty] is awarded...if a player handles the ball deliberately" while "distance between the opponent and ball" should be taken into consideration. please log in to view this image Daley Blind blocks John Terry's shot with his hand. Handball? But when does a player actually mean to block the ball with their hand? When does someone knowingly and deliberately move his hand or arm towards the ball? Unless he is Luis Suarez, the answer is very, very rarely indeed. The excuse "his hand is in a natural position" is also used - but what does that even mean?! Who on earth knows what a natural position is when you're sliding in at 100 miles an hour or jumping to head the ball. Was Daley Blind's arm unnaturally positioned as John Terry struck at goal at Stamford Bridge on Sunday? Who knows? A solution is hard to come by but it seems to me that a blanket every-instance-of-hand-touching-ball might be the best answer, with destination of the ball the deciding factor. This isn't without problems though - it may encourage attempts to deliberately flick the ball onto an outstretched arm and will almost certainly mean even more appeals. It's better than the mess we have at the moment, though. Fouls not given in the penalty area This is very simple really. A foul is a foul regardless of where on the pitch it has occured. It is not the referee's job to debate whether a penalty is too harsh a punishment for someone committing an offence inside the 18-yard box. Yes, there are major issues with being forced to harshly send players off in certain situations but that is a separate debate that should not come into this equation. For the purposes of this point the only issue should be foul = penalty. If it's a foul on the halfway line, it's a foul in the penalty area. NB. Tim Sherwood is yet to fully grasp the concept of penalty areas... The penalty The punishment system in football is a mess: regular fouls, even deliberate fouls, are penalised so leniently that teams use them as a strategic ploy (“he’s taken one for the team there”). The penalty, on the other hand, punishes even piddling offences with an almost certain goal, based on a completely arbitrary 18-yard measurement. The penalty rule is a relic of the days when football was a more territorial game, and an attacker with the ball in the penalty area was very likely to score. These days, it makes no sense, and simply encourages referees to take the safe option. Of the first 53 fouls in the penalty area during Euro 2012, 52 were given against the attacking team. By introducing free-kicks inside the area, you would allow referees to punish minor defensive offences (shirt-pulling, grappling in the area, marginal handball calls), in turn rewarding attacking football. Get rid of the quadruple punishment Building on the changes needed for the penalty rule, something must be done about the quadruple punishment of your goalkeeper giving away a penalty. A slight miscalculation from a keeper can mean a red card, a penalty, a need for a substituion and a suspension. Would it be too radical to just award a rugby style penalty goal, keep the cards in the ref's pocket and move on? I can't see how either the attacking or defending team could be too enraged by that outcome. If the foul is violent and deserving of a red card in and of itself, then a red card and a penalty goal could be awarded. Getting rid of such a harsh punishment, and this goes for professional fouls by defenders as well, would solve the problem of referees being wary of giving penalties that they know will also require an automatic red card. Time and again we see officials shy away from giving a foul that will also mean sending off a player, which is hardly surprising when the consequences of getting the decision wrong are so severe. Dissent Footballers get away with absolute murder when it comes to dissent. Why not take a leaf out of rugby's book and take a no tolerance stand to back-chat? please log in to view this image Diego Costa vents his spleen at a linesman "A player who is guilty of dissent by protesting (verbally or non-verbally) against a referee’s decision must be cautioned." So when Diego Costa squares up to a linesman or Joe Hart pushes his head into Michael Oliver's face, it should be (at least) a yellow card. Footballers might become nicer people and it could encourage others to become referees. The unwanted advantage There are few things more infuriating than when your team sees a player fouled while defending a lead and are grateful to have the free-kick, but the ball rolls to a team-mate, who is surrounded by opposition players, and the ref screams "play on, advantage". This is not an advantage. Clearly what the defending team wants is a free-kick, especially when they then find themselves in danger of being instantly dispossessed. It would be one thing if the player could hack the ball away, and effectively accept the free-kick for his team, but if he tried this tactic invariably the ref would say he had the ball and therefore an advantage that he had has now passed. It's also not an advantage to not be awarded a free-kick plum in front of goal but instead have a player quickly hustled off the ball on the edge of the box. please log in to view this image A referee plays an advantage We often see refs refuse to play advantages when they should, but this reverse advantage is equally as damaging. While on the topic, it would be worth experimenting with a longer advantage rule, like in rugby. This would encourage referees to play more advantages, without being worried that the team he's given the advantage to is about to lose possession. Encroachment on penalties The rules state: "the referee must check that the players other than the [penalty] kicker are located: Inside the field of play [and] Outside the penalty area." If it's a rule, enforce it. It's not hard to police as it only happens at penalties which start with everyone standing still, and yet often players are not punished for entering the area before a penalty is taken. please log in to view this image The Fifa website is very clear on this Photo: FIFA The solution? If an attacker enters the box before the penalty is struck and it is scored or he gains an advantage at a rebound, retake it. If a defender enters the box before the penalty is struck and it is missed, retake it. Foul throws Anyone who has played Sunday League football is unlikely to have ever completed 90 minutes without a member of the opposition piping up 50 yards away from the action with a strangled cry of: "Foul throw ref!" You see, the rules in amateur football are simple: A player is allowed only to launch a throw-in long down the line. Any attempt to go short, throw the ball to feet or in any way promote anything other than lumped, long-ball football is to be immediately pulled up for a foul throw under the rule that "It didn't really look right". Oddly, the professional game appears to adhere to a completely different interpretation of the rule, namely that anything goes. And by anything I mean ANYTHING. At which point it seems right to bring in Patrice Evra: Really this is all a load of unnecessary nonsense isn't it? The benefit to be gained from one angle of release compared to another is negligible at best and there is a simple solution: Everyone should just chill out. Of course that isn't a rule that can be formally implemented so instead let's propose a new simplified regulation that states: "The thrower must deliver the ball with two hands from behind their head". As long as the two hands start from behind the head it should make no difference at what point the ball is released. It can be released behind the head, over the head or in front of the head. IT DOESN'T MATTER. Just let the ball re-enter the field and allow play to continue. As long as you don't do what Evra did. That should literally never be allowed. Goalkeepers coming off their line at penalties It's less the act itself that is so frustrating and more the seeming total inability of linesmen to pick goalkeepers up for it. At the point the penalty taker's boot connects with the ball, regulations state that the keeper must be on his line. If he has encroached in any way then the penalty will be retaken (unless it has been scored, in which case the goal stands). In reality the goalkeeper will come off his line approximately 99 per cent of the time and be penalised for the offence approximately two per cent of the time (those statistics may or may not be totally accurate). please log in to view this image The Fifa website is also very clear on this The assistant referee positions himself on the goal line with the sole purpose of watching the keeper. Where goal-time technology is in use, he literally has nothing else to do aside from watching the keeper. Just watch the keeper. Watch him step off his line and raise your flag. It's simple. Stop allowing goalkeepers to cheat. Players getting booked for taking their shirt off Tempting as it is to sigh at a goalscorer for removing their shirt when an automatic yellow card (and shrug of the referee's shoulders) inevitably follows, it's hard to fathom exactly what this clause of Law 12 is trying to achieve. Even less understandable is the mandatory caution for any goalscorer whose celebration takes them into the crowd - as if any visible blurring of the boundaries between star players and humble supporters could possibly be tolerated in the modern game. please log in to view this image This is admittedly a terrifying sight Law 12 does allow for referees to apply "common sense" to goal celebrations but, with the dreaded assessor sat in the stands looking for cold-blooded consistency, there seems little opportunity for football to throw caution to the wind when it comes to unbridled goalscoring joy. Defender holding off forward as ball trickles out Back passes, tackling from behind - these have been addressed down the years by law-makers as they encourage attacking football. But there is one ugly, glaring exception. How many times do we see a defender blocking a forward while making no attempt to play the ball as it trickles out of touch for a goal-kick or throw-in? • If not now then when for Chelsea's young stars? An exciting, attacking possibility fizzles out in a moment of undiluted negativity. It could be described as an art, of sorts, but in reality has nothing to do with the skill of football. The remedy? Revive and enforce the old obstruction law. Any player who refuses to play the ball while impeding an opponent should have a free-kick awarded against him. And make it a yellow card for a second offence. Players wasting time This is an offence that gets me irrationally angry, partly because there seems to be such an easy deterrent. If a goalkeeper or defender continues to waste time, book them. A referee can then say to the offender, “keep doing that and I’ll send you off.” Instead what happens is referees allow players to time waste until the very last minute, and then decide to book them, by which point the yellow card is entirely useless. Referees should also crack down on players taking an age to leave the pitch when being substituted. Again, all it would take is a quiet word with the player telling him to hurry up or be booked. The deterrent to time wasting exists, please can referees start using it. Time for substitutions not being added on Injury time is always stated as "a minimum", yet it is hardly ever extended beyond the minimum; it is almost always exactly that amount. A favoured time-wasting tactic for managers is to wait until stoppage time to make a pointless substitution because it isn't seen as time wasting and usually doesn't result in more time added on. Such a substitution can waste as much as a minute of crucial late play. The clock should be stopped when the ball is out of play during injury time - like in rugby. Play the exact number of allotted minutes, to the second, unless a team is on the attack. Once that attack ends, blow the final whistle. Who decided technical areas were a good idea? All they do is provide a job for the fourth official, obliging him to tell managers earning up to £7m a year to stand inside a white dotted box. It also lessens the chance of a Jose Mourinho/Arsene Wenger style incident, and who doesn't want to see more of that? please log in to view this image Let's be honest, we all found this hilarious Get rid of them. Or, if they are to stay, make managers share one during the last 10 minutes of games. Six second rule Often the gripe of Sunday League footballers the country over, the six second rule is rarely enforced as we know it. Interestingly, however, the six seconds only starts once the goalkeeper is in control of the ball and able to start looking to release it back into play, which is up to the referee's interpretation. please log in to view this image 'Six seconds ref' will have been screamed by someone shortly before this kick The six seconds should be enforced more stringently but given the ruling it is rare for keepers to hold onto the ball that long. The answer to this one is to stop letting it wind us up so much.
Yup...the defender shepherding the ball out with no intentions of playing it gets my goat. The other is this mysterious injury time....just stop the clock and start it again...****ing obvious. Some of the others are interesting, others just tidying up...
now my "opinion" kicking the ball out. I agree. let the ref sort it. it was enough when a player gave the ball back. if a player lays down totally still a ref should know the score. a ref should also be helped by the linesmen for genuine injuries My view is do not stop unitl whistle is blown. If you choose to put it out thats up to you... if a guy drops like Muamba or breaks a leg or swallows a tongue its obvious. its also obvious when a player rolls about and waves his hands i nthe air he's not that bad Handball rule... its impossible to create a one fits all rule IMO. yes its annoying if a ball hits and arm but if you are on the end of a 0-1 loss in fa cup final cos some lad smashed the ball at your full back form 2 yards you'd be raging. not a foul in pen area... yes this is total BS. same for cards. if its 2nd min no card... bull. refs made this up to prevent criticism its not in the rules. penalties... no way... the box works. its perfectly fine. quadruple punishment. done. dissent. mike the refs. get a sin bin going. this should be dealt with unwanted advantage... total BS this can't complain about time wasting later if you complain about this. encroachment... meh... just made the D bigger simple. its just how fast guys run in form the initial whistle. just make the d bigger and thy have further to go. foul throws... not hard to police. as a rule.. don't get the whine here. the rule is meant to stop west brom types bombing 50 yard balls itn othe pen area. Leave it be. goalies at pens... rule is there to be enforced. linesmens and their unwillingness to flag to just do enough is the issue. booked for shirt... It's just a silly childish thing players go do. just sin bin them. no need for cards and missing matches holding players off... it is deliberate obstruction. i do hate it. good play is getting body between ball. backing in and "being strong" however is obstruction. just get shut of it. time wasting. its just inconsistent. wathcing tim krul take 2 mins over every kick is annoying. refs have the power they don't exercise it cos they know its mostly going to come back to them. book a keeper and the next thing you are looking do i send him of.. what will andy gray say (which was the mantra for years) same for injuries.. is it genuine or not.. **** if i get it wrong.. what will andy gray say. time for subs. Its a clear issue. they wait for the board to go up then theres 2 or even 3 subs after it with guys wandering on, shaking hands at final whistle and never even sweating. A clear time off time on technology would be so siple to do and hand the whole time keeping to the 4th offical. put a thing in the whistle to record time on and off being blown or something... just stop the game when appropriate and the clock in the stand stops... then you can do a yank countdown form 10 technical areas? who gives a toss. six second rule... yeah sure enforce it but its hard when players are running by a keeper who's caught a ball. all it'll do is promote aimless smashing fo the ball long cos thats safest. I would like to see it bette renforced but its too subjective anyway.. who is counting to 6 really when a keeper catches it. summary: time wasting just keep playing and ignore injuried til ref blows up Sin bin for minor **** like abusing ref or feigning injury or taking your shirt off keep time on side line and have a count down clock not added time that would do a lot Viedo replays would do a whole lot more to deal with the rollers about.
Instead of kicking the ball out, the player can pick the ball and hold on to it to prevent the opposition from taking a quick free kick.By that, he cannot be punished by the referee.
My biggest gripe isn't on the list - it's refs/linesmen calling things that never happened e.g offside when the player's clearly onside. Refereeing is a hard job, no doubt and many things will be missed they're only human after all and can't see everything but for me it's totally unacceptable to call things that never happened. What about taking some of the TV money and setting up a Refereeing school of excellence. The standard of officiating is simply not keeping up with the fast moving standard of football.
I clicked on the link, saw Bascombe's article and thought 'When did we get knocked out of the League Cup'?
Why should a team which has failed to secure a win in 94 minutes be given a little bit more injury time simply because they're attacking? We all want to see attacking football but defending is also part of the game and shouldn't be excessively punished in this way. The goalkeeper off the line really bugs me because that is a huge advantage. He's narrowing the room available to the penalty taker. It couldn't be more ridiculous if Bugs Bunny was standing there and pulled the goalposts in with some rope just as the kick was taken.
The one that gets me most is that referees award Liverpool corners. Most pointless decision in football, to just see Milner and co fail miserably.
History has been made. Last night a referee used TV instant replay technology in an international friendly between France and Italy. An Italian claim of handball for a penalty was turned down when the match referee referred to two referees in a truck viewing replays.
In a truck? ........................about time though. A simple process to put in place with better decision making for ref's
Hockey's had the video ref for time Contentious decision ? Game ref contacts video ref over headsets and refers incident back to video ref. Vid ref reviews the incident from as many angles as necessary, in real time and slo-mo. They give a correct, totally accurate decision based on clear evidence. It takes like 15 seconds. No arguing. Everybody moves on. Simple. Football shoulda been using it for years
Do you stop play or just carry on and then bring it back if wrong decision is made? If you carry on and someone commits a bad tackle for yellow card do they still get it if you then bring the play back for the original foul that's being reviewed?
Because the time allowed is given as "a minimum of", you will never see the allotted time given as 3mins 16 seconds or 4mins 28seconds. Because the time can not be given to great accuracy the ref will normally allow the game to end after the last play closest to the time stated, the winning team could be on the attack and the same thing happens. The goalkeeper moving doesn't bother me at all, if you have a good calm penalty taker he will pick his spot and put the ball there regardless of what the keeper does. You could even say the keeper moving first allows a good penalty taker more chance.
I'd even like it to be once the ref blows his whistle the play is active. So if you're the type of **** who likes to take a 40 yard run up with multiple stutters along the way then the GK can get to the ball before you and just pick it up. A penalty is already such a huge advantage it should be scored almost every time by a professional footballer. You could also allow more than 1 touch but defenders are also on their way once the whistle is blown no time to mess about.
Six second rule really bugs me. Sometimes the keeper will hold it for well over ten seconds and nothing is done. I feel the ref is lenient because the keeper won't have a concept of the time frame but I think I've only seen it punished once, Bolton v Newcastle.
