World soccer could be changing into something almost unrecognizable. According to the AP, FIFA's technical director Marco Van Basten has been contemplating numerous extreme changes to the game, many of which could easily be taken as a joke.
Van Basten, a legend of the game with the Netherlands, AC Milan and Ajax, has mentioned the following as potential changes.
Restricting players to 60 games
Explanation: Van Basten doesn't like the fact that some players could play 75 official games in one year, and he thinks it impacts the quality of the game. He said a cap at 55 or 60 would improve the quality of the games and limit injuries.
Take: So, what? If Lionel Messi has played so many games in a calendar year, including a summer international tournament, he can't play in clubs games in December because he is capped? That will go over well. That one makes no sense and would only hurt the game, not help it. Try telling Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo they have to sit out an important clash.
Replacing penalty kicks with eight-second run-ups
Explanation: No penalty kicks to decide matches, just those old MLS-style run-ups instead. This could potentially be deciding games at the 2026 World Cup if it is proposed and adopted.
Take: Don't get me started. This could be the one that ruins the World Cup. This isn't hockey, this isn't old NASL, this is the beautiful game and the world's most popular sport. Adding something like this would make it and FIFA a mockery. Penalty kicks are a fine way to decide matches after extra time, and not some play-ground run-ups.
Introducing orange cards
Explanation: I joked about giving out a blue card to a player to kick them off the field for 10 minutes. FIFA isn't joking. Van Basten is interested in playing an orange card for infractions that are between a yellow and a red, removing the player for 10 minutes. Seriously.
Take: Again, this puts even more pressure on the officials. And to take a player off the field is huge. Think about a red card in a match now. It forces the coach to usually make a sub to adjust the formation, and going even more than five minutes without a player puts a team at a serious disadvantage. To think it could happen several times a game, it's another rule that would hurt the sport.
No offside
Explanation: "I think it can be very interesting watching a game without offside," Van Basten said. "Football now is already looking a lot like handball with nine or ten defenders in front of the goal. It's difficult for the opposition to score a goal as it's very difficult to create something in the small pieces of space they give you."
Take: No offside? Cherry picking galore. While we are at it, let's make goals 10 times bigger, play in plastic bubbles and allow one Pepe-like tackle to go unpunished each match.
Four quarters
Explanation: Pretty simple. The game is broken up into quarters instead of two halves.
Take: We see this in a way sometimes with water breaks in the middle of a half, but that is as far as it should go. Hydrating players, especially in extreme heat, is more than fine and understandable. But quarters would just slow everything down even more and could certainly negatively impact teams that are in a good spell during a match and looking to capitalize.
What happens next?
Official proposals would have to be made and approved by the International Football Association Board, with FIFA controlling eight of the votes and four belonging to the British associations. The plan is for Van Basten to get feedback and then see if a proposal comes forward.
I'm hoping this is the last we hear about this, but sadly that won't be the case.
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