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When Harry Kewell got sent off for the now infamous handball, it showed that the rules of the game need some changing.
I’m not one of the many people shouting out that the decision was wrong as it was a shade of grey decision that could have gone either way.
When the ball hit Kewell’s shoulder, the referee had two choices: either send Kewell off and award Ghana a penalty or play on. Both options would have been unfair. In a game that forbids any outfield players from using their arms, it’s reasonable to suggest that arms should never be used to obstruct the goal whether intentional or not.
Therefore Ghana definitely deserved a penalty for that effort. However, like Pim Verbeek claimed in the press conference, it was completely unintentional and there’s nothing Kewell could have done to avoid the ball hitting his arm. A red card is there to prevent unsporting like behaviour and you can hardly argue that Kewell’s handball was against the spirit of the game.
There needs to be a rule for the third option where the referee could award the penalty without handing out cards. However, because there is no such rule, it’s perfectly understandable that the referee gave Kewell a red card.
However, this is not the only law that I think needs some revisions.
One of the blights on the game is diving. Now if FIFA are going to refuse to adopt video referees like I have advocated in a previous article, then FIFA has to find a way to decrease the incentives of diving. First thing they can do is instruct the referee to give out free-kicks for fouls when the player is still standing. If the players know that they don’t have to fall down to receive a free-kick, then there would be less likely to dive to gain an advantage. Players such as Mark Viduka who will try and stay on his feet as much as possible shouldn’t get penalised by choosing to play in that way.
Also I advocate a change in the rules of penalties. Whether any foul that denies a clear cut goal scoring opportunities is a penalty irrespective whether it’s inside the box or outside. It does seem unfair when the player is through on a one on one chance with the keeper but is fouled outside the box that the player doesn’t get a penalty for a deserved goal. I would advocate swapping the red card with a penalty for that situation as the spectacle of the game is often damaged by a send off.
Also, any foul that doesn’t deny a clear cut goal scoring opportunities inside the box would be a free kick from the spot of the foul instead of an automatic penalty. There are times when the attacking side is in the situation where passing and shooting options are blocked off and the only way they can benefit from the situation is try to win a penalty and hence dive. If there was no clear cut goal scoring opportunities, then why does the player deserve a penalty and a goal? It’s quite an arbitrary decision to decide what location the player should be in to be awarded a penalty.
Therefore these changes will create less incentives for diving (although a free-kick inside the box would still be advantageous) as you can only get a penalty when you are clear through to the goal. In that situation, why would a player dive when they could shoot and score a goal? Of course if the player was fouled in the goal box (where the goal-kick is taken) where it would be unpractical for a free-kick to be taken there then that would be a penalty.
I also believe that an even greater blight to the game then diving is the injury feign, when players pretend to be injured to try and get the players sent off or to waste time. This is especially annoying when the players get stretchered off to get treatment and then magically come back on the field.
The solution is to put a time limit of about five minutes before the player is allowed back on the field. After all, if the player is injured enough to require them to leave the field for treatment, then surely we need to protect the health and safety of the players to ensure they get adequate treatment and rest before they are allowed back on the field.
Anyway, these rule changes would not solve all the issues of handball, diving and injury feigns, but I believe it would improve things and is worth a trial.
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