PART TWO
THE REGULATIONS
Our second set of changes revolves around regulating the game of football. Regulations prevent unfair advantages and generally protect clubs, players, and other footballing entities. The following five proposed regulations not only protect clubs and players, but also help to foster talent growth and competition.
6 – Homegrown Talent
FIFA has been working on something they call the “Six-Plus-Five Plan” for a few years now. In essence, the new regulation would require teams to field at least six homegrown players in their starting elevens, leaving up to five slots for foreign talent.
FIFA’s basic reasoning is that allowing teams to field an unlimited number of foreign players is detrimental to the national team; they assume that when big teams such as Arsenal, field only foreign players, it leaves no room for homegrown talent to develop.
I believe that FIFA has a point, but a Six-Plus-Five plan is way too aggressive, and may do more harm than good. Let’s be honest: people support the big teams because the big teams have some of the best players in the world. By limiting the number of foreign players so drastically, FIFA would in essence be killing the beautiful game.
On the other hand, I do agree that a limit should be set. A Three-Plus-Eight system, for instance, would be a much better solution. First, the impact on all current teams would be minimal – most current teams do field a number of homegrown players, and the quality of the game wouldn’t necessarily suffer if this plan was adopted. Secondly, forcing the homegrown player situation to be addressed will be good for not only the national team, but also for the clubs themselves; most will develop their football academies to grow their own talent, but feeder clubs will also benefit (more on that in Part 5 – The Finances).
The biggest benefit, in my opinion, is the “local hero” effect. Kids look up to football stars, but are even more motivated by local players who make it big. They set an example to be followed, and fans of all ages can identify with the local hero who stays with his football club for an extended period of time, as opposed to foreign players who tend to change clubs more often.
7 – Carry-overs Between Competitions
There are too many competitions nowadays (more on that in Part 3). In keeping with the homegrown / young talent theme, I’d like to explain how imposing a limit on carry-overs between competitions benefits all of football.
I would invert my homegrown plan and call for an Eight-Plus-Three plan instead. This plan basically means the following: you can only start three players from your previous starting eleven in the last match in a different competition.
Huh?!?
As an example, say you are Tottenham and you just fielded your best 11 for a league match against Manchester United over the weekend. It is now Wednesday, and you have an F.A. Cup matchup against Leeds United. The Eight-Plus-Three rule would force Tottenham to field 8 new starters for the cup match.
I am sure many of the top teams would dislike this regulation, since they set out to win all competitions they participate in. However, enforcing this change would be beneficial to substitute and reserve players on every single team. These are players that either get limited or no playing time during the course of the season, but are now forced to perform. I believe this also helps the team in the long run; more playing time for your subs and reserves might yield an alternative to one of your regular starters that you might not otherwise consider, and it might make your selection choices easier in case you encounter injury or suspension problems throughout the season.
The last benefit, I think, is that it forces the major teams to focus on one competition more than another, and that is good for the little guy. More strategy in team selection means more excitement for fans, and more opportunity for players.
8 – International Duty Club Veto
This new regulation is pretty simple: give clubs an opportunity to deny a player’s national team call-up, say, once a year. Think about it folks: sometimes, players get called up to internationals right before their club team’s “match of the season”. If they play for their country, they risk injury or fatigue, and the club suffers. If they don’t play, they may have flown clear across the world for no reason whatsoever, and they come back jetlagged, fatigued, and may have missed out on some good preparation.
This regulation would be good for the clubs, for obvious reasons, but I believe it also offers benefits to the national teams. A national team manager that is denied a superstar for a particular match will be forced to call up a different player who might not otherwise be called upon. This is good for the player being called upon, of course, but also good for the national team, as they expand their roster and discover new talent.
9 – International Duty Injury Repercussions
The English National team just played two matches this week, and multiple players came back to their clubs injured – Micah Richards and Darren Bent, for example, are two of those players. My suggestion is that a club whose player returns from international duty injured (be it during training or an actual match) be offered the chance to deny the national team’s call-up of the same player for a period of say, six months.
This protects not only the club, but also the player. Until national teams take responsibility for buying insurance for events such as these, this new regulation would give clubs some measure of comfort.
Clubs should not be financially impacted by losing one of their key players to national team duty, as this clearly was not done for the benefit of the club. There should always be repercussions to national teams, and if not financial, then at least logistical, in the way I have described in the first paragraph.
10 – The Officiating
The refereeing situation in football can be improved. Currently, referees are used as scapegoats by club managers, and are generally vilified. The problem stems from a general lack of respect by the entire footballing world.
Take English referees, for instance. I believe them to be as close to the perfect model as you can get, at least as compared to their counterparts in Spain, Portugal, and Italy, among others. They allow a more physical style of play, which keeps the game tempo up. In Spain, for instance, referees are quicker to whistle any time players are jockeying for position, and because players know this, it encourages play-acting and diving. To that, I say “let them play!”
From an administrative perspective, however, referees do need to be held accountable, and as such, all referees should be graded, every match, for their performance. By ranking them amongst their peers, you are establishing competition between them, and a willingness to learn and improve themselves. I believe that referees should be promoted and relegated based on their performance. Those who perform are rewarded, those who don’t perform are punished. Doing this will definitely better the officiating quality, and better quality means more respect.
At the end of the day, referees need to be respected. Perhaps if refs were quicker to issue yellow and red cards for complaining, for instance, then players would think twice before opening their mouths. Watch a Barcelona or Real Madrid match, and count the number of times their players surround a referee to argue a call! In the last match I watched, I counted at least seven instances of this.
Fines and suspensions for arguing calls need to increase, and as better referees make their way up the ladder, quality and respect will eventually flourish.
And so it begins…
Proceed to Part Three – The Competitions
Go back to Part One – The Rules
SERIES GUIDE:
Part One – The Rules
Part Two – The Regulations
Part Three – The Competitions
Part Four – The Administration
Part Five – The Finances