New IFAB Rule Beggars Belief.

Wednesday, 19th May 2010 at 12:10pm

Football's International Football Association Board yesterday announced that from the World Cup any player who 'feints' before taking a penalty will be issued a yellow card and forced to retake his penalty.

The board, which is made up of world governing body Fifa and the football associations of England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, has decided that feinting before striking the ball at the end of a run up is considered 'unsporting behaviour' and the offending player will be punished by receiving a booking.

"Feinting in the run-up to take a penalty kick to confuse opponents is permitted," said Fifa's Jerome Valcke.

"However, feinting to kick the ball once the player has completed his run-up is now considered an infringement," he added.

It seems yet again that those in charge of the 'beautiful game' have no clue as to how a game of football should be played.

Certain rule changes have made improvements to the game, the back pass rule which has lead to the game speeding up being the prime example, but so many have been to the detriment of the game.

Players are now booked for removing their shirt when they score a goal. Scoring in football is an extremely emotional experience and it must be hard for players to keep those emotions in check when surrounded by thousands of adoring fans.

A large part of football was built on passion, but it seems those at the top are determined to rid the game of that. The same goes with celebrating with your own fans.

Tackling has been all but outlawed in the modern game as those at the top look to take the physicality out of the sport.

I for one would never advocate a return to the days when the game's best players were routinely kicked off the field, but the sight of a full bloodied, yet fair challenge is one of the most enjoyable elements of football and something that can lift a crowd as much as a great pass or a near miss.

The offside rule is now so complicated, no one seems to know what is offside or not these days. What was wrong with the old rule that said if a player was in front of the last defender when the ball was played forward, he was offside? Nothing, that's what; if you're on the pitch, then you're interfering with play.

Golden and silver goals have come and gone, as it seems has referees moving a free kick 10 yards forward if a player is guilty of questioning a decision, although that is one rule the powers that be did introduce that they should enforce.

And now we have this rule. Surely the ability to pull off a successful feint is a skill and deserves to be part of the game. A penalty kick is the simplest confrontation on a football pitch; one on one, mano e mano, a battle of will and skill.

Are we therefore to see goalkeepers penalised for dancing up and down on the goal line? Surely this is just as unsporting; after all, it is a blatant attempt to put the penalty taker off.

One day we might have a governing body that takes football back to basics, but until then, we'll have to make do with ridiculous rules and regulations like this one.

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