If you were Sepp Blatter for the day, which football rules would you change?

[Fish]

Which bits of footie matches or rules really **** you off? What would improve things for you?

Up 10 for dissent? Yellow card sin bins like rugby and hockey? Red card suspensions to match the time the injured player takes to get fit again?

Interested in your ideas!

 

[scrounger]

I would implement something where it is illegal to surround the ref. End of.
I would want stricter refs... anyone giving the ref direct constant abuse, card them rather than taking it.

 

[Pubey]

sin bins for yellow cards. handball is always handball, whether "on purpose" or not... no such thing as "ball to hand". a clear classification for suspensions, like in rugby (spitting/punching/pushing/kicking/dissent etc etc). goal line technology

 

[number11]

A Disciplinary Review Panel, which meets once a week to review incidents in football and hand out retrospective bans for players for things like violent conduct, diving etc that may not have been punished during the game. I know the FA have powers to do this but think it should be formalised and have emphasis on reviewing conduct and punishing anything unsporting.

 

[EastStandBlue]

Retrospective bans, even if players have been cautioned.

Stop the silly yellow cards i.e. Taking your shirt off. Unless you're inciting the opposition fans, theres nothing wrong with a bit of celebrating.

Goal line technology. None of this 2 extra linesman nonsense, just a sensor in the ball that tells you when its completely over the line.


Also, If i were Sepp Blatter, i'd remove my head from my enormous Ar$e.

 

[Sussex Shrimper]

A Disciplinary Review Panel, which meets once a week to review incidents in football and hand out retrospective bans for players for things like violent conduct, diving etc that may not have been punished during the game. I know the FA have powers to do this but think it should be formalised and have emphasis on reviewing conduct and punishing anything unsporting.

You beat me to that one. I was going to suggest an end to yellow cards for diving during games when it's hard for a ref to be sure, and to have Aussie Rules style citations instead. If a panel of experts are convinced that you dived, it's a match ban for a first offence, two for a second, and so on. You surely don't need to go too far down that line before you realise that you're doing your team more harm than good.

 

[Fish]

handball is always handball, whether "on purpose" or not... no such thing as "ball to hand".

Does that mean that there's no such thing as an accidental handball? Point blank pass or shot hitting a hand that's not raised or moved to the ball could mean straight yellows if it's always deemed deliberate. Sometimes you can't get your hand or arm out of the way, that's what ball to hand means. IMHO the game is spoiled by this attitude of 'it touched his arm, therefore it's a free kick / penalty. I destroys the flow of the game - only stop the game if it needs stopping i.e. if possession needs to be restored.

In hockey our guiding principle for umpires is (all other things being equal) that if there's no advantage gained from a 'foul' you play on unless it's deliberate.

 

[Firestorm]

I'd change the "laws of the game" to the "Rules of the game" so that everyone stops getting them wrong !

Quote<<moved to the ball could mean straight yellows if it's always deemed deliberate>>

Hand ball is not a yellow card offence , whether deliberate or not.
Generally its the unsporting behavior of a deliberate handball in order to prevent play progressing which merits the yellow card

 

[Bluesmanager]

In the same vein as the retroactive discipline council, I'd have a branch where they look at incidents like the Brum pen on the weekend (i.e. whereby the reff completely screwed it up, another example being the lino for the Blackburn game, had they scored from that freekick there'd be a real uproar), disciplining the reffs, no more of this demoting reffs to punt them onto teams like Southend, more like "if you're cack, you're out". Period.

 

[leeblue]

stop bookings for goal celebrations, unless you do something silly with opposing fans

Diving would be retrospectively punished with 5 game bans- would put an end to it

90% of academy players must be home nationality

 

[Fish]

Quote<<moved to the ball could mean straight yellows if it's always deemed deliberate>>

Hand ball is not a yellow card offence , whether deliberate or not.
Generally its the unsporting behavior of a deliberate handball in order to prevent play progressing which merits the yellow card

Agree 100% - my point was that if we did away with the idea of 'ball to hand' (i.e. accidental handball, which was the original comment) then in theory we could end up in a situation where refs are under pressure to yellow card for every handball, because he'd have no leaway in the rules / laws to apply interpretation or common sense.

 

[shrimper4life]

an extra sub permitted when matches go into extra time

 

[londonblue]

A Disciplinary Review Panel, which meets once a week to review incidents in football and hand out retrospective bans for players for things like violent conduct, diving etc that may not have been punished during the game. I know the FA have powers to do this but think it should be formalised and have emphasis on reviewing conduct and punishing anything unsporting.

Given that that was my first choice I'll now go with my second and third.

My first is that I would tell players not to kick the ball out when someone is injured, and to leave it up to the ref to decide whether or not to stop play.

My second is that I would do away with the "rule" that an injured player is treated on the pitch and then has to go off only to be waived back on. I would change it so that the player should go off to be treated and then waived back on, or that he should be treated on the pitch and then be allowed to stay on the pitch. It's amazing how many times the current rule penalises the team that has been wronged by their player being off the pitch when the player that injured them gets to stay on. More importantly, sometimes the player that has to go off is the player that would normally take the resulting free kick.

 

[fatshrimp]

Any player fouled and awarded a penalty, must take the penalty.

 

[MrB]

Automatic relegation for Col Ewe unless they win every match during the season (including cup games).

 

[Slipperduke]

You are offside if you are in the opposition's half, in front of the last defender when the ball is kicked forwards.

No first phase. No second phase. You are always interfereing with play.

Simple.

Oh, and definitely get the Dubious Goals Panel multi-tasking to include the Dubious Dives Panel. I don't care if it costs another pack of hobnonbs and some more tea, let's get it done. It does mean that Didier Drogba would be suspended until 2011, but them's the breaks.

 

[scrounger]

Any player fouled and awarded a penalty, must take the penalty.

If it was handball for example, would the player that kicked the ball then be the one to take the penalty? What if it was difficult to tell who last touched the ball for the attacking team?

 

[MrB]

If it was handball for example, would the player that kicked the ball then be the one to take the penalty? What if it was difficult to tell who last touched the ball for the attacking team?

Additionally, you'd really have to extend it to free kicks as well to be consistent.

 

[TBV_Dan]

1. Goal line technology - After looking at the replay of mark gower's goal, the ball definately crossed the line and the goal wasn't given, so I would like that brought into the game.

2. Replays - Sometimes the ref gets decisions wrong, and sometimes, that costs a team the game so I would also like that introduced into the game.

Any more thoughts?

 

[BrettieAngell]

Definitely sort out the offside rule, if you're in an offside position then you are offside!

Introduce goal-line technology , it really can't be that hard and wouldn't hold up or stop the game.