By Andrew Warshaw
February 27 – The lawmakers of world football are to consider allowing a fourth substitute in extra time and will at last try to get to grips with the contentious so-called “triple punishment” when they convene in Belfast today and tomorrow.
The annual meeting of International Football Association Board (IFAB), comprising FIFA and the four British home associations, is also expected to hear reports over how successfully sin-bins have been used in experimental youth matches but are unlikely to give the idea the green light for the professional game.
The thorny issue of refereeing standards and video replays will be up for debate but probably without any firm recommendations. Board members are due to discuss an experiment that has been carried out by the Dutch FA (KNVB) whereby a video assistant, watching a TV monitor, liaises with the referee.
FIFA president Sepp Blatter will be attending the meeting as usual but his idea of tennis-style challenges for coaches is unlikely to gain much, if any, backing. Blatter’s presence is of even more interest this year given the presidential election in May plus this week’s recommendation to hold the Qatar World Cup in winter in 2022. Interestingly he will be sitting in the same room as federations who are openly campaigning for two of his rivals. The English FA are supporting Prince Ali bin al-Hussein of Jordan while the Scots are backing Dutch football chief Michael van Praag.
FIFA carries four votes out of eight when it comes to any rule changes and whether Blatter and his secretary general Jerome Valcke will approve scrapping triple punishment – penalty, sending off and automatic suspension when a player is sanctioned for denying a clear scoring chance – is open to question.
The item has been on and off the IFAB agenda for several years without being resolved. One suggestion is to turn red cards into yellows if fouls are not deemed violent conduct in order to overcome the lack of consistent interpretation by officials.
All decisions from the annual meeting will be announced at a press conference at lunchtime tomorrow. From this year onwards, IFAB, whose members are administrators rather than players, is being aided by two new advisory panels consisting of ex-footballers and officials, technical experts and FIFPro, the players’ union, who will present crucial feedback with regard to all proposed amendments.
The use of an additional substitute in extra time, by which time all three have often already been employed, could well get the thumbs up and would probably take effect from July. This change has been put forward by FIFA after taking soundings from its confederations. There is also a “stop the clock” proposal made by US soccer authorities but this is only up for discussion, not decision.
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