New rules can make game more beautiful while killing some ugly old habits

At the risk of seeming a bit presumptuous or arrogant, considering that Americans are relative newcomers to the footballing world, we have some suggestions that we think can improve the game. Over the past few years, there has been discussion worldwide on how to both increase scoring potential and get rid of some of the less desirable elements of the sport.

A major overhaul of football isn’t necessary. No need to enlarge goals, do away with draws or bog the game down with endless video review. We suggest several less radical changes, which, if adopted all together, would at the minimum improve enjoyment of the game for the dedicated supporter and might even serve to broaden its appeal, particularly in the United States.

THE DAYLIGHT RULE
Nothing conspires to keep scoring down like the quick arms of timid linesmen (call them assistant referees if you like). They would far prefer to call players for being offside when they’re not rather than playing on and potentially giving a goal to a player in a slightly offside position.

Though linesmen will always be cautious in this way, an extra step can be given to the attacking player by instituting the “daylight rule”. The rule is just as its name implies; there must be clear daylight between the attacking player and the defender when the ball is played for the attacker to be judged in an offside position. This would include all body parts except the arms (too much potential to violate the spirit of the law by sticking one’s arm out) crossing a plane that runs on a 90 degree angle from the ground to soccer heaven above.

The “even is on” policy instituted several years ago, it can be argued, has had virtually no impact on making the game more offensive (in the good sense of the word). The “daylight rule” would be far more clear cut than the current law which leaves what’s considered “even” to the inconsistent interpretation of individual linesmen.

PUNISH SIMULATION LIKE VIOLENT CONDUCT
The 2006 World Cup showed the entire planet what us fanatics have known for years - diving is tarnishing both the reputation and the appeal of football. Added to this is the recent phenomenon of players faking injury or having received a blow to the face in an effort to get their fellow professional yellow or red carded.

With multiple camera angles from every match available for post-match review, virtually all simulation, where it is obvious the player hasn’t been touched or where a player claims to have been struck in a part of his body that he wasn’t, can be detected. When a player is found guilty of simulation, we suggest the following penalties:

Dive in the 18-yard box that results in a penalty kick or injury simulation that results in a red card
Three match ban for first offense, five for the second and then out for rest of season or longer.

Dive in the 18-yard box with no penalty kick awarded or a dive outside the box that results in a free kick or injury simulation that results in a yellow card
One match ban, then progression of consequences listed above for repeat offender.

The habit of simulation is ingrained in the muscle memory of players from all nations, even in the northern European countries where they fancy themselves to be above this dishonorable behavior. Only the sternest of consequences can get them to make the conscious effort necessary to change their habits. Because of the emphasis on clear daylight to punish offenders after the fact, it will still be up to referees to determine in real time whether a player has allowed himself to go to ground with minimal contact.

LIMITED VIDEO REPLAY FOR GOALS & PENALTY KICKS
The last thing that we would want is for anything, including video replay, to disrupt the flow of the game. To that end, we would only allow review by the fourth official for no longer than one minute and only in these two instances:

Ball crossing the goal line
In this day and age, it is almost retarded not to at least have some sort of goal line review. Whether the ball has entirely crossed the line isn’t an issue very often, but when it is, it’s pretty damn important, so can we spare the money for two fixed cameras per goal and some spiffy modern equipment in the tunnel for the fourth official’s review?

The referee must still make the call of goal or no goal, and the review would take place at his discretion. There would have to be indisputable proof to overturn the original call.

Penalty kick awarded
Automatic and immediate review by the fourth official. There must be clear daylight to determine that the player has dived or indisputable evidence to reverse a call of handling the ball.

If after review, a player is judged to have clearly dived in the box, he shall be shown a red card.

REAL STOPPAGE TIME
For years, referees have consistently rewarded players who fake injury in order to waste time. Tactics like this and needless last-minute substitutions are employed because refs typically add around thirty seconds for every minute of actual stoppage time. And how often do we see lazy, robot refs add on the perfunctory three minutes, whether there was five minutes of stoppage or none at all.

We propose that the fourth official should keep precise track of all stoppage time, and he shall inform the referee, not the other way around. Time added on will still be rounded down to the nearest minute, and the phrase “There shall be at least…” shall still precede the minutes to be played. The referee would then keep track of any additional stoppage time.

There will be a lot of initial grumbling about six, seven or even ten minutes of time added on, but after awhile, players will realize that they may as well just get up and take their boo-boos like men instead of rolling around like they’ve just been shot.

NO ATTACKING PLAYERS IN THE SIX-YARD BOX ON FREE KICKS
We are sure that referees are as tired of dealing with all of the crap that happens as players alternately try to screen or protect the goalkeeper as we are of watching it. This simple modification by which attackers must wait until the ball is kicked before entering the six-yard box would put an end to these shenanigans.

We firmly believe that the changes to the laws of the game that we have suggested here will do wonders towards restoring the honor and increasing the overall appeal of the beautiful game.

Please let us know what you think.