A strange thing happened the other day - I found myself agreeing with Sepp Blatter. The occasion was his proposal to find an alternative to penalty shoot-outs, and although he did not seem to come up with a better idea, it was very encouraging that he’s prepared to at least try and find something new.

So warming to this theme, I thought I’d get on the soap-box and sound off about 8 rule changes or changes in interpretation, that I would like to see.

1. Professional Fouls In Goalscoring Positions

For a long while, I’ve felt that a penalty and a yellow card is a more appropriate punishment than a free kick and a red. This would apply regardless of whether the foul is committed inside or outside the penalty area.

I think this would be just as big a deterrent as a sending off and it wouldn’t spoil the rest of the game. In offering a shot at goal, it feels like a punishment more in keeping with the crime. It would also introduce a bit more consistency, because I have the feeling that professional fouls within the penalty area are currently less likely to result in a sending off, because the ref already has the penalty as a sufficiently severe punishment. This shouldn’t happen, but it does.

2. Penalty Shoot-Outs

There simply has to be a better test of skill than a single shot at goal. A lot is dependent on the keeper guessing the placement of the shot before it is kicked, and so there is a strong element of luck. What’s more, referees seem to be very reluctant to enforce the rule about keepers staying on the line, and so a further undesirable factor is how much movement the keeper is able to get away with.

I’m sure the reason that Penalty Shoot-Outs have lasted so long is simply that no-one can agree on an alternative. But it has been tried.

In the 1970’s, the North American Soccer League experimented with Shoot-Outs, where a player was given the ball 35 yards from goal, and had five seconds in which to score against the keeper by whichever way he wanted - a single shot, dribbling round, a lob, whatever. The NASL was ordered to stop by a FIFA who were more interested in the universal, world-wide application of the laws than in taking a closer look at what seemed a good idea. Pity. This type of shoot-out places a bigger emphasis on a player’s skill and initiative, and the experiment is well worth reviving.

3. Goalkeepers and Penalties

On the subject of penalties generally, as I’ve said, referees now seem very reluctant to enforce the law about keepers remaining on their line until the ball is kicked. With the help of the ref’s assistant, this is not a difficult law to enforce at all. When I first started watching football, xxxx years ago, I’d say roughly a quarter of all penalties were re-taken because of movement by the goalkeeper. Admittedly the rule was slightly different, but the numbers of infringements were no greater than today, where a re-take is a rarity.

Officials are now under a lot more pressure from TV cameras, and this may be why so many refs are turning a blind eye to the keeper’s actions. But it would be a lot fairer if the rule were to be enforced properly. I’ll swear one day, I’m going to see a keeper reach the ball before the kicker.

4. Elbowing while Jumping

I think a certain amount of BS is surrounding this issue. Raising your elbows does help you to jump, (although it isn’t an absolute necessity) but it is even more handy for keeping opponents away or down. You certainly don’t need to flail your elbows behind you, and my feeling is that in nearly all of those particular cases the intention is to hurt or at least intimidate. Sorry to do the old git routine again, but this particular practice wasn’t nearly such a problem 30 years ago. It’s crept in as a matter of convention and habit.

I say - if you must raise your arms, you must try to keep them still. If your elbows fly around and hit your marker, it’s a red. If it was a genuine accident, hard luck, you still walk.  Be more careful next time.

5. Defenders Shielding the Ball as it runs out of play

As I understand the obstruction rule, you’re only allowed to block an opponent’s path to the ball if you keep the ball within playing distance of yourself and use your body to shield it. However, for some reason this rule goes out of the window when the ball is going out for a goal kick and the defender is trying to prevent an attacker from getting to it. Defenders are often about two yards away from the ball and manoeuvre their bodies in a way that clearly shows no intention of getting any nearer.

How often do you see a free kick given in that situation? I struggle to think of a single instance. It gives an unfair advantage to the defender, it’s against the laws and refs only allow it because every other ref seems to allow it.

6. Attackers taking the ball to the corner flag

This is the opposite case - an attacker taking the ball to the corner flag in the closing minutes and using his body to prevent defenders from getting to it, or forcing them to kick the ball out.

The ball is within playing distance of the attacker, so technically it’s not obstruction. But it’s a lousy, boring and unfair tactic. Refs can be instructed to interpret this as ungentlemanly conduct and give a free kick.

7. Goal Line cameras

I understand that the technology for judging whether the ball has crossed the goal line isn’t as simple as you might think, but assuming the problems can be overcome, there’s no good reason why it can’t be used in the professional game to decide whether a goal’s been scored.

That’s the only type of Video replay that I’d want to see, though. Far too many decisions are a matter of opinion rather than fact - including many offsides, handballs or decisions about whether a foul was in the penalty area. The game would be held up for minutes on end to no firm conclusion.

8. Time Wasting in Injury Time

I’ve often had the impression that once the number of minutes of injury time is displayed, refs feel obliged to stick to it. Teams can waste time during injury time, but it doesn’t seem to get tacked on, presumably because it exposes the ref’s decision far more clearly than other calls he’s made on this issue during normal time.

It’s unfair, inconsistent, and refs should have more courage.

May I conclude with one final suggestion to FIFA? If you are going to introduce a change to the rules, the equipment or the referee’s interpretations of the law, DON’T INTRODUCE IT AT A WORLD CUP! This seems to happen every time. The best players in the world are gathered together for the most important occasion in team sport, and you handicap them by introducing some change or other that they have no chance of getting used to. In Germany, it was a new ball and a stricter punishment for tackles from behind.

Crazy.

Bob Yule