Rule Changes and Adaptations That Could Help Beautify the Beautiful Game

A new Premier League season is nearly upon us. With a fresh season comes fresh rules that will be implemented for the first time in England’s top league.

The first new rule is in relation to squad size, while the second is based on home-grown players. Each of the 20 Premier League sides will have to register a squad of a maximum of 25 players and minimum of 18 players. Each squad will also be expected to consist of at least eight home-grown players.

A home-grown player is someone who has spent three years or more training with a club in either England or Wales before the end of the season in which he turns 21.
These new rules will be introduced to the Premier League in a bid to improve the league as a whole. But there are still many rule changes left to be implemented into football to improve not only the quality of the game, but to return the integrity of the sport.

This year’s World Cup has been the latest landmark event in football to be tarnished by football’s ignorant refusal to accept technology.

Frank Lampard’s non-goal was the most controversial event in South Africa, but it was far from an isolated incident at what is considered the biggest spectacle in World Football.

The following are a list of rule alterations or rule adaptations from other sports that could help improve the beautiful game and eradicate some of the issues and problems that plague football.

Video Replay

There is no question that the use of technology should be brought into football. Everyone with a passion for the game knows that the only step forward for the sport is to introduce video replay to ensure that legitimate goals are given and shots that fail to cross the line are not given.

But the people at the top of the governing bodies, with their infinite wisdom, disagree that technology is the way to go. Because at the end of the day who wants fairness in football.

Manager Challenges

If video replays are not going to be accepted with open arms, the best way to add a degree of fairness to football is to allow each manager a challenge during the game.

Just like in American Football, each manager would have a challenge to use which would send the official to a booth to review the incident. Only major calls would be reviewable, such as goals, penalties, straight red cards, etc. Since there are no timeouts in football, the collateral of using a challenge that is incorrect could be to lose a substitution.

Black Card

In Gaelic Football the officials have three cards: yellow, red, and black. The black card is used first as a warning card. The card is used to warn a player that his next indiscretion will result in a yellow, and then a red card.

The standard and consistency of refereeing is under constant scrutiny. The addition of a third card and a ranking system for fouls would help referees and players know what will merit certain cards.

Referees Mic’d

Referees have to endure a terrible amount of abuse from players. The “respect” campaign went some way towards alleviating the verbal abuse that was directed towards the officials but it did not eradicate it.

In rugby, a sport where the referee wears a mic, the officials are shown the highest standard of respect from players.

If a referee is handed a mic for games, that one simple little instrument will empower him greatly and allow a great deal of respect to be shown by players and coaches.

A Player Per Half

A major compliant of the matches during the World Cup was that too many teams were happy to set-up with 11 men behind the ball and hope for a draw.

If a new rule was introduced that enforced each team to have at least one player in each half of the pitch, the game would open up and more chances and possibly goals would occur as a result.

Wage/Transfer Cap

The transfer market has reached ridiculous heights. Both players’ fees and wages have reached levels which are crippling teams.

Clubs are being held to ransom by some players, while others are being forced to have to part with their young quality. Caps on how much teams can offer a player in relation to wages, as well as how much they can spend in a season, or spend on a certain player would only benefit the sport.

Retrospective Banning

Diving is rampant in football. It is a horrible part of the game that is growing larger and larger. It has become somewhat of an art form with some players and there seems to be no end to the levels of it in football.

Retrospective banning is the best way to stamp this out of the sport. A committee for each league should be put together to view instant replays to determine whether or not a player cheated by diving. If he is found guilty then a sanction should be handed down.

Physio During Play

Playacting has become part and parcel of the sport. Be it to slow the game down or just to catch a breath, players are often seen exaggerating or embellishing an injury.

If physios were allowed to attend to players while the game remains playing, less players would stay grounded and only the legitimate injuries would call for attention.

Of course, head injuries should call for an immediate stoppage due to the health risks that may arise, but all the other possible injuries should be seen to while the game continues, just like in rugby.