I think everyone here would agree that the refereeing has been (at times) truly awful. I am throwing out two odd suggestions for FIFA.
1. Less is More. The referees need to swallow the whistle and let the players play. Soccer is a contact sport, so let the players have some latitude for contact. Of course, I am not talking about cleats up and other dangerous plays, but incidental contact – even contact that results in a player taking a tumble – should be allowed. Players won’t dive if there is no reward for diving. And any tackle that results in “all ball” should be legal, from any angle.
2. Penalty Box. A (ahem) minor rule change. A yellow card counts for a 5:00 minute “power play.” The second yellow counts for a 10:00 minute power play. Or something to that effect. I like the idea of sending off a player for a fixed period and allowing him to return. But make it meaningful. A red card (especially on a second yellow) can really be too harsh a punishment.
I am not one to toy too much with the rules of the game, but in the case of how you treat fouls, there is room for improvement.
4 comments on “Two Thoughts on How to Solve the Referee Problem”
I like the idea of sending a player out for a limited period of time. Although one has to be careful that it is not misused as a rest period.
Also, like the NFL, they should give the coaches a limited number of opportunities (maybe 2 per game)to challenge a call. Especially PKs.
SR, yes, the danger of sending off players is the “rest” factor, which is why I think you need a meaningful period of time, say 5:00 or 10:00 minutes. A minute or two and you have that problem, but being down a man for ten minutes and your opponent can take advantage of that.
I agree also with the challenge, but FIFA has been especially subborn on time management in games. For example, why not give each team 2 1:00 minute time-outs. That would discourage the “diving” to get everyone a rest…
They could probably define fouls as major/ flagrant or minor and this could be a 10/30 minute penalty, depending on the foul. A De Rossi type of foul would be an immediate ejection from the game.
Like the NHL that has the power play option, this actually speeds up the game, as one team takes advantage of the limited time that it has with the one man advantage. So far in the World Cup, I have not seen teams take advantage of being a player up.
A timeout would be good. When the Netherlands- Portugal match was being played out, I felt that the referee should have given a time out so that the coaches could calm down the players. You sometimes just need that.
FIFA should really look into this.
If hockey style Powerplays were added, there would have to be introduced different categories of fouls and misconduct, as in hockey where there are well over a dozen.
I believe a dangerous tackle (but one where a red would be harsh) should still be a yellow card in the old sense, but other things could be punished by a ‘power play’.
But the most effective way to sort out the refereeing problem is to get rid of the double jeapordy rule. Ban and fine players who dive or deliberately handball using video evidence after the game, as is done in ice hockey. The same for things like Figo’s headbutt. It’s a disgrace if he plays against England on saturday.
Maybe it wouldn’t solve things in the very latter stages of tournaments but I bet you’d see a heck of a lot less dirty tricks most of the time.