Association Football

For those who don't take the EDP on a regular basis and, therefore, may have missed my recent letter to the editor -

Sir

If ET lands on Mousehold, I wonder what he would make of the recent EDP

articles about the dearth of football excitement at Carrow Road?

Perhaps he would conclude that these earthlings will be pushovers?

After all, one of the definitions of stupidity is doing the same thing

over and over and expecting different results. So, if the game is

boring and pointless – change the game! It's not rocket science. The

problem is most football supporters believe that the Rules of Football

came down from Sinai with Moses on tablets. Cricket and Rugby have

no such illusions. They adapt the game to meet the modern world.

Stop complaining and do something about it!

So, what could realistically be done? Unfortunately, there is not much that could be done that could be described as realistic. Why?

One word – FIFA.

“FIFA is the international governing body of association football, futsal and beach soccer. Its membership comprises 209 national associations. Its headquarters are in Zurich, Switzerland, and its president is Sepp Blatter. FIFA is responsible for the organisation of football's major international tournaments, notably the World Cup.

The laws that govern football, known officially as the Laws of the Game, are not solely the responsibility of FIFA; they are maintained by a body called the International Football Association Board (IFAB). FIFA has members on its board (four representatives); the other four are provided by the football associations of the United Kingdom: England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland, who jointly established IFAB in 1882 and are recognised for the creation and history of the game. Changes to the Laws of the Game must be agreed by at least six of the eight delegates.”

I suggest that not many people know this. I didn't until I looked it up. (I'm assuming that Wikipedia are correct here!)

Still my contention holds true.

“The role of the International Football Association Board (IFAB) is to discuss and decide upon proposed alterations to the Laws of the Game. FIFA and the UK-based associations (English, Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish FAs) can propose matters to be discussed and ratified at the Annual General Meeting (AGM), which usually takes place in February or March.

These meetings take place in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland in strict rotation, as well as locations decided by FIFA in years when the FIFA World Cup™ is held. A representative of the 'host' association acts as chairman. The same country also acts as hosts for the Annual Business Meeting (ABM) which takes place in September or October.

Although the ABM can consider general business submitted to the Board by any of the continental confederations or any of FIFA’s 208 Member Associations and provide decisions, it does not have the authority to alter the Laws of the Game.

More about the AGM

Each of the IFAB members can forward in writing suggestions or proposed alterations to the Laws of the Game, requests for experimentation to the Laws of the Game and other items for discussion to the secretary of the association hosting the meeting by 1 December of the preceding year. This is then printed and distributed by 14 December. If any amendments or alterations need to be made to the initial proposal, the deadline to do this is 14 January, as topics for discussion are printed and distributed to the members of IFAB on or before 1 February.

More about the ABM

Each of the IFAB members can forward any proposals, requests for experimentation regarding the Laws of the Game and other items for discussion in writing to the secretary of the host association, at least four weeks before the date of the meeting. Any confederation or other member association of FIFA may forward proposals, requests or items for discussion in writing to FIFA’s Secretary General, in good time to ensure that they can be considered by FIFA and, if acceptable, forwarded to the secretary of the host association at least four weeks before the meeting.

Voting and decision making

FIFA has four votes on behalf of all its affiliated member associations. The other associations of the IFAB each have one vote. For a proposal to succeed, it must receive the support of at least three-quarters of those present and entitled to vote. The decisions of the Annual Business Meeting of the Board shall be effective from the date of the meeting, unless agreed otherwise.

The decisions of the AGM of the IFAB regarding changes to the Laws of the Game shall be binding on confederations and member associations as from 1 July following each AGM. However, confederations or member associations whose current season has not ended by 1 July may delay the introduction of the adopted until the beginning of their next season. No alteration to the Laws of the Game can be made by any confederation or member association unless it has been passed by the Board.

Sorry, is it me? The two highlighted sections seem to be mutally exclusive. Have I missed something? Can someone enlighten me, please.

Before I lose you completely, this seems to be the most important point in any exploration of how to make football a better game. The FIFA and IFAB websites are full of the momentus news that the introduction of goal-line technology is imminent – or sort of, kind of, maybe. I can find no references to anyone exploring ideas to make the game more relevant, exciting and fair. Looks like I'm on my own again.

This brings us neatly back to the “down from Sinai” argument and how other sports deal with the governing laws. In my original letter to the editor I mentioned cricket and rugby. Interestingly both sports are about as old as football – a least in the codifying of the laws.

“The work to draw up the first rules of Rugby football started on 25 August 1845 and ended on 28th August. The work was done by three senior pupils at Rugby School after they received instructions to codify the game of Football.”

There is a very good resource on the web site:

http://www.rugbyfootballhistory.com/laws.htm

What is clear is that the Rugby laws have been consistently updated and continue to be revised almost every year.

The story in cricket is generally the same - “The basic rules of cricket such as bat and ball, the wicket, pitch dimensions, overs, how out, etc. have existed since time immemorial. In 1728, the Duke of Richmond and Alan Brodick drew up Articles of Agreement to determine the code of practice in a particular game and this became a common feature, especially around payment of stake money and distributing the winnings given the importance of gambling.[7]

In 1744, the Laws of Cricket were codified for the first time and then amended in 1774, when innovations such as lbw, middle stump and maximum bat width were added. These laws stated that the principals shall choose from amongst the gentlemen present two umpires who shall absolutely decide all disputes. The codes were drawn up by the so-called "Star and Garter Club" whose members ultimately founded MCC at Lord's in 1787. MCC immediately became the custodian of the Laws and has made periodic revisions and recodifications subsequently.

In modern times the Body Line series forced a change in the Laws to take account of “leg theory”, thereby consigning Jardine's attempts to nullify Bradman to the scrap heap. The introduction of DRS has further brought the game into the 21st Century. (Interestingly, I can remember moves in the 80's to somehow nullify the West Indies all-pace attacks of that era. They were quite rightly resisted. - aside – I wonder how the Don might have fared faced with Michael “Whispering Death” Holding, Joel “Big Bird” Garner, Andy Roberts and Colin Croft – I suspect he would have scored runs but his average would have truly suffered.)

Summing up: my contention that those (perceived) hide-bound and traditional sports, rugby and cricket, embrace change where it is likely to improve the game – both for players and spectators. So, why should football be different?

I contend that it should not, and there are a few things that could easily be done to improve the game and not critically affect the way it is played.

There have been experiments in football. Tinkering with the off-side rule, messing with the goal-keepers options, etc. do not actually lead to more goals, which is, the point of the game – to score goals.

Here is something simple that would lead to more goals and not affect the fundamentals of the game. Make the goals bigger.

Don't forget the size of the goals and pitch were set when equipment and players were far different. Why not update? Add 30 cms to the height of the goals. Add 60 cms (30 each side) to the width of the goals. Result? Better game with more goals.

Complaints about the different referring decisions in different countries should be investigated. Referees should apply the laws in the penalty area – not just in other area of the pitch. Players should be booked for feigning injury – it's a form of cheating.

Simples.

Are these fundamental changes? I contend not. Is this changing the nature of the game? I contend not. Are the authorities even considering anything like this? I suspect not. Why?

See all of the above.