new rule
According to the Italian edition of Corriere dello Sport, the International Football Federation (FIFA) is planning to increase the half-time injury times in the World Cup to be held in Qatar.
According to the source, FIFA President Gianni Infantino discussed this innovation during his visit to Italy. If the change is implemented, match times will have to exceed 100 minutes.
The changes are expected to take effect at the World Cup held in Qatar from November 21 to December 18, but must first be reviewed and approved by the International Football Association Board (IFAB).
Mundial – an experimental field
However, the case will likely not be approved. The World Cup finals have long been a springboard for testing innovations in the rules.
For example, at the World Cup in Italy in 1990, changes were made to the rule for determining the offside position. Previously, to avoid offside, the attacking player had to be strictly further away from the two opposing players, now it is possible to be in line with the opponent, not further.
The rule was blocked and offsides began to be defined in this way in the future. Unless the referees are instructed from time to time to interpret the controversial situation in favor of the offense or to calculate the centimeters between the defender and the offensive player.
But at the 1994 World Cup in the United States there were already more changes, although mostly cosmetic in nature.
For the first time, dotted technical fields appeared near the benches, and referees were allowed to wear colored T-shirts with yellow, red, blue, green and even mauve T-shirts.
But perhaps the real innovation was precisely in the rules of the game: at the 1994 World Cup, the referees immediately began showing a red card for an interception from behind for the first time.
This change was aimed at reducing the degree of roughness in the game, and the referees wrote quite a few penalties in that tournament, forcing players to fly into dangerous interceptions that weren’t so reckless.
Since then, this rule has undergone some modifications. It’s really easy to get suspended for a backhand, especially if you hit your opponent’s leg, but still, not every such trick is penalized with a red card in modern football.
In the 2002 World Cup, goalkeepers were allowed to take as many steps as they wanted with the ball in their hands (previously no more than four), but they can no longer hold the playing round in their hands any longer. six seconds.
The rule still applies, but in fact it is extraordinary to be awarded a free kick by the goalkeeper for such a delay in play. In fact, senior referees never apply this paragraph of the rules of the game.
Since the 2006 World Cup, players have been banned from entering the football field with decorations. At first, the players had to cover the rings and earrings in their ears with a Band-Aid, but a few years later they had to remove them before entering the field.
important innovations
But changes in the game of millions, and the most radical, occur not only in the final stages of world championships. In other years, there have been very important changes.
For example, in 1992, goalkeepers were prohibited from touching the ball with their hands after a back pass that could have been made before. This innovation has seriously transformed the game.
Two years later, but even before the World Cup, a three-point victory system was introduced everywhere instead of two, as before. This was done to encourage the desire to play for the win, rather than settle for a draw that was reduced from half a win to a third.
It wasn’t until 1995 that the triple substitution rule took the form in effect before the coronavirus pandemic. And already at this time, the number of substitutions increased to five (plus one in overtime for cup games), despite having a limited number of slots (three in four halves and three in game time).
Prior to 1998, goals scored by direct goal kicks, which were later classified as “free kicks”, were not counted. It is now called the “first”, as in the middle-of-court draw, and a goal from it will count. Such balls are of course very rare, but sometimes they still happen in professional football.
Already in the 21st century, other innovations appeared. Before the era of video replays, FIFA placed a referee behind each goal to help the main referee see all the nuances of martial arts in the penalty area, but it was unlikely to achieve the desired effect.
In 2016, two people were no longer needed, since when shooting from the middle of the court, the ball was allowed to pass not only forward, but also back.
An important change that has been talked about for years was finally approved in 2018. There was a video judge system – YES.
While video assistance to referees on the field often leads to serious questions and complaints, this revolutionary change has definitely made the game better.
Well, the latest big change was the removal of the away goals rule in European competition and other tournaments where the match consists of two matches. Previously, in case of a tie on aggregate, the team that scored more away goals went further, but now this is no longer a factor and the question of the winner is decided in extra time or penalty shootout.
Wenger’s ideas
At the same time, FIFA never ceases to work to modernize the rules and constantly strives to make football better by developing innovations that are not always accepted by the IFAB.
So, a few years ago, at the Football For Future Cup children’s tournament, innovations developed under the guidance of the famous coach, and now Arsene Wenger, head of the FIFA rule changes department, were tested.
While the matches were played in two 30-minute halves, time stopped when the ball went out of bounds. Unlimited substitutions are allowed, players are sent off for five minutes for yellow cards, and shots are taken with their feet, just like in futsal.
All this was supposed to modernize football, make it more interesting for the next generation, which seemed difficult for two hours to concentrate on the action, where there may not even be goals.
At the same time, in fact, Wenger and his development team proposed a general throwback to the 19th century, as the same outlets were played with legs until 1887.
However, none of these innovations were approved. The fact that FIFA will now solve the game time issue (the ball stays in play for only 40-50 minutes in an hour and a half) by increasing the compensated time indicates that this will not happen in the near future.