Referees call for new punishment
By Henry Winter
Last Updated: 8:36am BST 14/08/2007
English referees plan a radical change to the Laws of the Game that would mean players who foul opponents are told to wait on the touchline until the injured player is fit to carry on.
After discussions with the League Managers' Association and the Professional Footballers' Association, the elite referees, led by Keith Hackett, will take the proposal to the FA. If approved by the FA's referees' committee, Soho Square's powerbrokers can raise the issue with the International Football Association Board, who decide on any law changes, at their spring meeting.
The new law could not be implemented in the Premier League before next season, although it could conceivably be used at Euro 2008. It would not apply to all fouls; the offence must be deemed worthy of a yellow card before the perpetrator is ordered to stay off until the injured party returns.
"It's wrong that the opponent who committed the foul challenge remains on the pitch and his team stays at 11, yet the team who has been offended against go down to 10 for a period while the player is treated,'' said Hackett, the chief executive of the Professional Game Match Officials, yesterday.
"If it is an injury that demands touchline treatment, he [the injured player] comes off and the offender comes off. When he is fit, or a substitute is ready, he [the offender] can come back on. It is an area which the PFA, LMA and ourselves have discussed on our technical committee.
"We then put that before the FA's referees' committee, and that meeting is fairly imminent, and they determine whether it goes to IFAB. They are the law-makers. To get a change in the law there has to be a 6-2 vote, which is probably not a bad thing, but Fifa hold four votes, and the other four are held by England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. So to get it through we have to carry Fifa, and convince them the law needs updating. It is a long-winded process.''
The next IFAB meeting could have plenty to debate. Simulation remains high on the agenda with Fifa president Sepp Blatter already suggesting that any player who stops the game for an injury, whether faked or genuine, must wait on the sidelines "for five minutes'' before returning. This would anger fouled players keen to continue after a couple of minutes' treatment.
More immediately, Premier League referees used the opening weekend of the season to make a statement of intent, notably their desire to apply advantage and keep the game going, often ignoring players lying down.
In Saturday's game between Sunderland and Tottenham Hotspur, the excellent Alan Wiley noted any infringements against attackers but allowed moves to develop, only calling the action back, rugby-style, if no advantage accrued. Only then did Wiley apply sanctions, whether a free kick or caution (notably to Spurs' Didier Zokora a good minute after he had caught Sunderland's Ross Wallace).
"Within the Premier League, referees have a strong reputation for applying a fair amount of advantage without putting their control at risk,'' added Hackett. "The referees are encouraged to apply advantage. We are trying to stop undue stoppages where a player wants to break up the continuity of play or wants a rest [and feigns injury].''
The new protocol, introduced last season, of the referee decreeing when the game should stop for an injury, rather than players feeling under pressure to kick the ball out, appears to have become fully accepted. "The players and managers are buying into it in a more positive manner this season,'' said Hackett. "We don't expect the player to kick the ball out when a player is injured. The referee will stop it if a player is seriously injured.
"With the majority of injuries, other than to the head, the referee can attend to them at the next stoppage, but with head injuries we have a duty of care. What we don't want is anyone trying to deceive and preventing an opportunity and wasting time. In the main, we have very honest players in English football. Other areas of the world create problems.''
As the weekend showed, this new approach can cause problems. At Chelsea on Sunday, Daniel de Ridder, Birmingham City's new boy from Celta Vigo, went down, and stayed down, yet Steve Bennett, who had a good game, left him rolling on the turf as the game raced down the other end. Eventually, De Ridder dragged himself to the touchline where Birmingham's physio could attend him. He then limped around the pitch and off for further treatment.
Some within football would like to adopt rugby's system, where physios can run on to treat injured players while the game continues around them. This would also allow genuinely injured players to be treated promptly - as De Ridder needed.
But the emphasis remains on avoiding stoppages. "We all want low-key, efficient refereeing,'' stressed Hackett. "An aide to that is to keep the game flowing.''
By Henry Winter
Last Updated: 8:36am BST 14/08/2007
English referees plan a radical change to the Laws of the Game that would mean players who foul opponents are told to wait on the touchline until the injured player is fit to carry on.
After discussions with the League Managers' Association and the Professional Footballers' Association, the elite referees, led by Keith Hackett, will take the proposal to the FA. If approved by the FA's referees' committee, Soho Square's powerbrokers can raise the issue with the International Football Association Board, who decide on any law changes, at their spring meeting.
The new law could not be implemented in the Premier League before next season, although it could conceivably be used at Euro 2008. It would not apply to all fouls; the offence must be deemed worthy of a yellow card before the perpetrator is ordered to stay off until the injured party returns.
"It's wrong that the opponent who committed the foul challenge remains on the pitch and his team stays at 11, yet the team who has been offended against go down to 10 for a period while the player is treated,'' said Hackett, the chief executive of the Professional Game Match Officials, yesterday.
"If it is an injury that demands touchline treatment, he [the injured player] comes off and the offender comes off. When he is fit, or a substitute is ready, he [the offender] can come back on. It is an area which the PFA, LMA and ourselves have discussed on our technical committee.
"We then put that before the FA's referees' committee, and that meeting is fairly imminent, and they determine whether it goes to IFAB. They are the law-makers. To get a change in the law there has to be a 6-2 vote, which is probably not a bad thing, but Fifa hold four votes, and the other four are held by England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. So to get it through we have to carry Fifa, and convince them the law needs updating. It is a long-winded process.''
The next IFAB meeting could have plenty to debate. Simulation remains high on the agenda with Fifa president Sepp Blatter already suggesting that any player who stops the game for an injury, whether faked or genuine, must wait on the sidelines "for five minutes'' before returning. This would anger fouled players keen to continue after a couple of minutes' treatment.
More immediately, Premier League referees used the opening weekend of the season to make a statement of intent, notably their desire to apply advantage and keep the game going, often ignoring players lying down.
In Saturday's game between Sunderland and Tottenham Hotspur, the excellent Alan Wiley noted any infringements against attackers but allowed moves to develop, only calling the action back, rugby-style, if no advantage accrued. Only then did Wiley apply sanctions, whether a free kick or caution (notably to Spurs' Didier Zokora a good minute after he had caught Sunderland's Ross Wallace).
"Within the Premier League, referees have a strong reputation for applying a fair amount of advantage without putting their control at risk,'' added Hackett. "The referees are encouraged to apply advantage. We are trying to stop undue stoppages where a player wants to break up the continuity of play or wants a rest [and feigns injury].''
The new protocol, introduced last season, of the referee decreeing when the game should stop for an injury, rather than players feeling under pressure to kick the ball out, appears to have become fully accepted. "The players and managers are buying into it in a more positive manner this season,'' said Hackett. "We don't expect the player to kick the ball out when a player is injured. The referee will stop it if a player is seriously injured.
"With the majority of injuries, other than to the head, the referee can attend to them at the next stoppage, but with head injuries we have a duty of care. What we don't want is anyone trying to deceive and preventing an opportunity and wasting time. In the main, we have very honest players in English football. Other areas of the world create problems.''
As the weekend showed, this new approach can cause problems. At Chelsea on Sunday, Daniel de Ridder, Birmingham City's new boy from Celta Vigo, went down, and stayed down, yet Steve Bennett, who had a good game, left him rolling on the turf as the game raced down the other end. Eventually, De Ridder dragged himself to the touchline where Birmingham's physio could attend him. He then limped around the pitch and off for further treatment.
Some within football would like to adopt rugby's system, where physios can run on to treat injured players while the game continues around them. This would also allow genuinely injured players to be treated promptly - as De Ridder needed.
But the emphasis remains on avoiding stoppages. "We all want low-key, efficient refereeing,'' stressed Hackett. "An aide to that is to keep the game flowing.''
They just annoy me. As foggy's intended might say, sorry, I couldn't keep it in.
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