FIFA Needs to Change Some Rules

As a foul-plagued World Cup 2006 comes to a close I find myself looking back on what could have (and what should have) been. The biggest story of the World Cup by far has been the terrible job done by referees. Whether they've been goaded into awarding penalties by classless diving or just plain inconsistent they've been a blemish on this tournament. Here's some changes that FIFA should consider in order to increase appeal for the best sporting event in the world.

• Revisit their "tackles from behind, shirt tugging, and diving" crackdown attempt. Yellow cards are now meaningless, which should not be. What's the difference between Cristiano Ronaldo getting viciously spiked in the inner thigh by a Dutch defender and Deco taking two steps with the ball after a foul? Well, apparently nothing in the eyes of the referee because both offenses merited yellow cards. In the case of Deco, it was his second of the game and resulted in red. FIFA needs to tell refs to a) be more consistent and b) use better judgement. Is carrying the ball a bookable offense? Sure, but not when it's going to affect the outcome of the game. Use some common-sense.
  
• Harsher penalties for diving. Diving, put simply, is the biggest blight on the game today. Ask any American who doesn't follow soccer why and invariably they will say all the sissies falling down and faking. Not only does it give the sport a bad name, it ruins the flow of the game. Worse still are players who dive and fake injuries specifically to get others thrown out of the game. If refs are not going to call a foul in diving situations then they must card the diver.
• Injury penalties should be introduced. In international soccer each team is only allowed 3 substitutions per game, no exceptions. So you will often see injured players treated on the field or just off it only to return to play moments later - the trade off is that the team must play a man down while the injured player is being treated until he returns or is substituted. Unfortunately, this has resulted in players faking injuries to stop play. They'll be stretchered off, but miraculously recover within seconds and return to the game. FIFA should impose a time penalty for players that need to be treated for injuries. These penalties would force players to think twice before staying down as they would be hurting their entire team. More importantly, they would be hurting themselves as managers may opt to sub them out rather than wait out the time penalty. I would suggest the following:
• 10 minutes - player needs treatment on the field
• 15 minutes - player is stretchered off the field
• Introduce limited, television replay for near-goal disputes and dives. FIFA has been reluctant to take advantage of this technology because they feel it would interrupt the flow of the game. In the case of goal disputes, the play has likely halted anyway so what does it matter. In the case of dives, FIFA could take a page from the NFL and award coaches two(2) "challenges" per game. If they think a player faked a foul and/or injury to halt the game submit a challenge to the fourth official. The fourth official and head referee can check the replay. If it was a dive or fake, the diver/faker is given a yellow card, if it was legit the manager is given a yellow card. Players would think twice about diving as they may be called on it and penalized and coaches wouldn't abuse the system and stop play willy-nilly as they could potentially be ejected as well.
• Change the accumulated yellow card rule for all major tournaments. As Dave O'Brien and Marcelo Balboa have hammered into our heads over the last 3 weeks - two accumulated yellow cards in group or elimination play results in players missing the next game. This is an incredibly unfair/stupid rule as some of the game's best players often miss out on very important matches because of the stupidity and inconsistency of the horrible referees. FIFA can keep it for group play, but players should have carte blanche once they get to the tournament's last 4. This would ensure that all the best players are eligible to play in the finals as no one could pick up some ticky-tack card that, in concert with a card 3 games ago, would force them to sit out.
  

These changes are probably too drastic for FIFA, but they make sense for the good of the game. And unless FIFA wants international soccer to be dominated by a bunch of diving sissies who can only win by faking injuries until the other team has no players left (I'm looking at you, Portugal) they need to make drastic changes. The technology is there, the resources are there, they just need to get off their duffs and make it happen.