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Rant of a (Former) Soccer Nut
I’ll admit right at the outset that I was born and raised a soccer nut. And that I have been a beneficiary of the enhanced television coverage of European soccer for the past ten years or so. So I shocked myself the other day when I stood up and announced “this is ridiculous” at the conclusion of another one-nil victory by some team or other at the Women’s World Cup of soccer tournament— the goal scored by way of a penalty kick, awarded for a handball, decided after lengthy consultation with the video assistant referees.
One-nil is in fact the most common score in professional soccer (according to my first two Internet search results). So a goal is something to be cherished, which in turn is why post-goal celebration pileups are allowed. Yet a goal can be waved off by a referee if the attacking team is declared offside; and a goal can be scored on a penalty kick. A penalty kick, in turn, can be awarded for a foul such as a handball, if it takes place in the penalty area. A penalty kick is likely to result in a goal 71 per cent of the time; meaning that seven times out of 10, when you award a team a penalty, you are giving them a goal, which in turn is more likely than not to determine the outcome of the match.
In short, the game is won and lost by the officials as much as the players. The rules are complex, and complexity doesn’t improve judgment calls. Even with video assistant referees, the decision as to whether a ball has been touched by a defender’s hand is very subjective. And the offside rule (two defensive players between the ball and goal when you are in your opponent’s half of the field) is almost impossible for a human being to get right every time,
I might add that it also drives me crazy to see seven potential substitute players sitting on the bench fully dressed, knowing that four of them will never get in the game (because only three substitutions are allowed.) Four players will have it as their job to sit and pout throughout the game, knowing they needn’t have bothered putting on their uniforms, knowing as well that they can make a quick getaway after the game because they won’t have to shower afterwards. It would make much more sense if soccer were like hockey, where the full squad can go on and off the ice umpteen times, as long as you stick to your on-ice maximum number.
That’s not the only rule I’d change. I’d do away with headed balls—or say that only the attacking side can head the ball in the defending team’s half of the field. The existing rules inexorably permit at least a couple of serious head collisions per game. I’d also do away with the offside rule completely; or at least simplify it so that it is like the NHL rule that requires the puck to go over the blue line first, and that’s it. And I’d move the penalty kick spot back to a point at which your chance of scoring is only about 30 per cent, not 70 per cent.
I know, there are purists out there who say it’s a traditional game with traditional flaws, and that anything —such as video assistance to determine if a ball has crossed the goal line—that interrupts the flow is negative. I agree that video assistance is not the answer to the flow problem, but it may be part of the answer to the bigger question of how to make the outcome of so many games less dependent on a referee’s judgment and more the result of skill and teamwork. And I’m not suggesting that referees are biased or poorly trained; the fault lies in the rules they have to enforce.
If soccer wants to retain its status as the people’s sport of the world—and it has basketball nipping at its heels—it must have a major rethink of what’s good about the game and what is not working.
Speaking of basketball, does anyone really blame Kawhi Leonard for bailing on Toronto and choosing Los Angeles instead? Following a perfect season, public expectations of him were so sky high he had nowhere to go but downwards, unless lightning struck twice and he somehow repeated the feat of winning it all. Better to set himself a different challenge.
Enough ranting. For real sports writing, keep turning these pages until you come across James Hurst’s column.
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