Fifa plans to get rid of draws
Fifa plans to get rid of draws
Posted: 2010-09-09 12:54
World football's controlling body Fifa has stated its intentions to find a way to get rid of a negative approach to matches.
Fifa president Sepp Blatter says the days of teams 'parking a bus' at the back with the intention to play out a draw, especially at the World Cup, are numbered.
"In the first few matches of the group stage in South Africa (World Cup), we witnessed some teams that went out to avoid defeat, that were playing for a draw from the outset. This is a topic that I would like to discuss at the upcoming football and technical committee meetings," the Swiss tells Fifa.com.
For instance, on June 25 at the Moses Mabhida stadium during the World Cup in South Africa, Portugal knew they needed only a draw to progress along with Brazil in Group G and applied a defensive strategy, finishing the match goalless and despite the Ivory Coast beating Korea DPR 3-0 on the same day in the same group, Portugal's point was enough for them to progress to the second round. It is the kind of approach Portugal employed in their match against Brazil that concerns Blatter.
"We have to try to find a way to encourage free-flowing football in tournaments like the World Cup, with teams playing to win. We plan to take the opportunity to look at the concept of extra time as well. Often we see teams set themselves up even more defensively in extra time, in an attempt to avoid conceding a goal at all costs.
"To prevent this, we could go directly to a penalty shoot-out at full time, or reintroduce the golden goal rule. We'll see what emerges from the committee meetings," Blatter adds.
: 2010-09-09 13:36
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