Football reforms: Scrapping 45-minute half to be debated at Ifab

[pete 2,499]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/40311889

 

A proposal to scrap 45-minute halves is to be looked at by football's lawmakers to deter time-wasting.

 

Instead, there could be two periods of 30 minutes with the clock stopped whenever the ball goes out of play.

 

Lawmaking body the International Football Association Board (Ifab) says matches only see about 60 minutes of "effective playing time" out of 90.

 

The idea is one of several put forward in a new strategy document designed to address football's "negativities".

 

Another proposal would see players not being allowed to follow up and score if a penalty is saved - if the spot-kick "is not successful", play would stop and a goal-kick awarded.

 

Other ideas include a stadium clock linked to a referee's watch and a new rule allowing players to effectively pass to themselves or dribble the ball when taking a free-kick.

 

Read the full strategy document here

 

Where have these proposals come from?

 

The ideas have been put forward to Ifab by stakeholders in the game to tackle "on-field issues" and form part of what it calls its "Play Fair strategy", which has three aims of:

 

improving player behaviour and increasing respect

increasing playing time

increasing fairness and attractiveness

Part of the problem the new document highlights is that a 90-minute match has fewer than 60 minutes of playing time because of stoppages and time-wasting.

 

Which plans need no law changes?

 

The document has put forward a number of radical ideas for discussion, but suggests some proposals can be implemented immediately without the need for law changes.

 

Most of these apply to trying to combat time-wasting. The document says match officials should be stricter on the rule which allows keepers to hold the ball for six seconds and be more stringent when calculating additional time.

 

Additionally, it suggests match officials stop their watch:

 

from a penalty being awarded to the spot-kick being taken

from a goal being scored until the match resumes from the kick-off

from asking an injured player if he requires treatment to play restarting

from the referee showing a yellow or red card to play resuming

from the signal of a substitution to play restarting

from a referee starting to pace a free-kick to when it is taken

Which plans are ready for testing?

 

Some of the proposals are already being tested. The idea of only allowing captains to speak to referees - to prevent match officials being mobbed - will be trialled at this summer's Confederations Cup, which starts on Saturday.

 

Another proposal involves changing the order of kick-taking in penalty shoot-outs, known as 'ABBA'. It is similar to a tie-break in tennis, with team A taking the first kick, then team B taking two, then team A taking two. That is a change from the traditional 'team A, team B, team A, team B' pattern.

 

New suggestions also include players who are being substituted leaving at the closest part of the touchline to them instead of at the halfway line.

 

Which ideas are up for discussion?

 

This is where it gets interesting. One of the proposals would allow being able to dribble straight from a free-kick to "encourage attacking play as the player who is fouled can stop the ball and then immediately continue their dribble/attacking move". Other measures include:

 

passing to yourself at a free-kick, corner and goal-kick

a stadium clock which stops and starts along with the referee's watch

allowing the goal-kick to be taken even if the ball is moving

a goal-kick being taken on the same side that the ball went out on

a "clearer and more consistent definition" of handball

a player who scores a goal or stops a goal with his hands gets a red card

a keeper who handles a backpass or throw-in from a team-mate concedes a penalty

the referee can award a goal if a player stops a goal being scored by handling on or close to the goal-line

referees can only blow for half-time or full-time when the ball goes out of play

a penalty kick is either scored or missed/saved and players cannot follow up to score to stop encroachment into the penalty area

Who has come up with these proposals?

 

Ifab is made up of Fifa and the four British home football associations - of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland - and is responsible for making the final decision on law changes.

 

Former English referee David Elleray is Ifab's technical director and has overseen the document.

 

"Referees, players, coaches and fans all agree that improving player behaviour and respect for all participants and especially match officials, increasing playing time and the game's fairness and attractiveness must be football's main priority," he said.

 

The next stage would involve the ideas being discussed at various meetings before decisions are taken on whether to develop them further or discard them.

 

I must admit when a keeper wastes about 3 minutes to take a bye-kick really gets on my tits. Takes time to retrieve the ball and then takes it to the other side of the goal. Kicks his studs against the post and takes ages looking round before he kicks it. I am not sure why the game should be a half=hour shorter but definitely new laws to cut down time-wasting.

[the gunslinger 3,366]

Totaly wank ideas

 

 

[pete 2,499]

Is stopping a goal with your hand not a red card already?

[JFK-1 1,691]

Go down this path of 30 minute halves constantly stopping and starting the clock and you're going to end up in an American scenario somewhere down the line. They will be having commercial break every time the ball runs out of play.

 

And what's the bloody point even if there is only 60 minutes of actual play. You're still going to be in exactly the same place taking 90 minutes or more to play it out.

[the gunslinger 3,366]

Go down this path of 30 minute halves constantly stopping and starting the clock and you're going to end up in an American scenario somewhere down the line. They will be having commercial break every time the ball runs out of play.

 

And what's the bloody point even if there is only 60 minutes of actual play. You're still going to be in exactly the same place taking 90 minutes or more to play it out.

Change for change sake. Its an industry. We have bosses who do it so they can say they have changed things.

 

Not improved them......

 

Changed them.

 

 

[Gribz 745]

For timewasting the best rule that came in was the pass back rule that really keeps a flow going but bar that there isnt much more to change other than the ref speeding things up. You cant have a 5-a side scenario where the ball barely goes out of play. But I thought having ball boys with extra balls was brought in to speed up throw ins and corners etc - but a team can slow this down by changing the taker straight away.

 

I wouldnt say no to 40 minute halves with a 10 minute half time though.

[Bluedell 5,422]

An easier suggestion to prevent time wasting would be for the referee to apply the rules better and start booking players for it.

[der Berliner 3,466]

I wouldn't mind stopping the clock during free-kicks, injury stoppages, taking a penalty, and the like. Erases any complaints about too little or too much injury time at the end of each half.

 

The rest sounds mostly like the Premiership split rubbish that exists in Scotland, and will not exactly help the referee or the flow of the game that much. What you need is better refs applying the rules better, IMHO.

[Gaffer 1,665]

An easier suggestion to prevent time wasting would be for the referee to apply the rules better and start booking players for it.

 

I understand what you mean, but then it's down to the interpretation by a ref. I think starting and stopping a stopwatch is a decent idea, and makes sure there is consistency in games. The amount of time wasting in games these days is ridiculous, and it does ruin games when one team uses this tactic for the whole game. There is however a logistical problem with this approach. Since there is no set finish time to a game (or even the end of first half and start of second half), I don't know how this will work.

 

We might not necessarily agree with some of their ideas, but I'm delighted they are trying to improve this aspect of the game. I'd like cheating to be tackled seriously though. The authorities tinker around the edges, but I'd like serious punishments, either at the time or retrospectively, for divers, shirt pullers, and time wasters. Being suspended for a game or two is not punishment enough, and it does nothing to deal with this cancer in the game.

[BEARGER 1,829]

Where is BH when we need him.