By Andrew Warshaw
January 14 – Two new panels, one of ex-players and coaches and the other comprising officials and other experts, are to advise football’s lawmakers on proposed changes to the game. The two bodies are part of the reform structure being made to the International FA Board, the guardians of the rules of the game comprising FIFA and the four British associations.
Reports suggest the introduction of sin-bins, advocated last month by UEFA president Michel Platini, may be one of the items the two panels will be recommending to IFAB to discuss at its annual meeting in March. Sin-bins have been suggested as a punishment for persistent fouls and dives.
Revisiting the offside laws, increasingly complicated for players and fans, let alone referees, could also be on the agenda of the IFAB session in Zurich.
Jonathan Ford, the Welsh FA chief executive who sits on IFAB, said: “Sin-bins have been mooted in the past – one would expect that it will be one of topics the new advisory panels take up.
“The idea of the panels is that they will be more proactive and they will be able to look at these things and debate them while the IFAB’s role will be as the final decision-makers.
“It (IFAB) will become a little bit more proactive rather than reactive and will have the opportunity to test and pilot different programme. Historically we have not been very successful in doing that, now we all see a different phase where we will be able to go forth and experiment and see whether they work…and make our decisions.
“There are many ideas that we have, we just haven’t been in a position to been able to pilot them over the course of a year and bring those results back.”
The establishment of the two panels followed concern among some FIFA members that IFAB was too conservative and British-dominated. It was decided at last year’s FIFA Congress that the 127-year-old body needed some reform.
“This gives 209 associations around the world the opportunity to feed in ideas, we’ve seen a lot of innovation in football in recent times, but clearly we didn’t have a formal consultation process,” said Alex Horne, secretary general of the English FA.
“We’re widening the consultation through players, managers (and) key individuals who have an interest and expertise in the game. This will make us a stronger unit, representing football even better than we have in the past.
“We shouldn’t underestimate the simplicity of the laws,” he added. “One of the beauties of the game is that the laws are so simple and that’s why 127 years of history says the conservative nature of a small body is vital. There is so much innovation in and around football and that’s a good thing but we need to be very, very careful before we bring that into the laws of the game.”
The IFAB has already tried to solve the controversial issue of the ‘triple punishment’ for the same offence – penalty, sending off and suspension – but has so far resisted scrapping it.
“We have not been successful at solving this in the past because we have not found a better way,” said Ford. “This is another of the issues, along with the interpretation of the offside rules, that I am sure the panels will look at.”
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