FIFA New Rule: FIFA mulling 2 BIG RULE changes, legendary referee Collina backs 'Mercy Rule', discussion ongoing over mandatory rest period to safeguard players' health, Check OUT

FIFA New Rule: FIFA has been looking to bring two incredible new rules to the footballing world in consideration of the players and teams. The first is ‘The Mercy Rule’ where a lesser amount of additional time will be given in a match that has a certain difference in the number of goals after 90 minutes. The second is implementing a mandatory break for rest in consideration of the health of players. Follow Football News Updates on InsideSport.IN.

The Apex body is considering a ‘mercy rule’ where one-sided matches with a huge goal difference between the two teams will see less amount of additional time if scoring more goals doesn’t affect later on
FIFA is in the process of implementing mandatory resting time for all players in consideration of their health

FIFA New Rule: FIFA mulling 2 BIG RULE changes, legendary referee Collina backs ‘Mercy Rule’, discussion ongoing over mandatory rest period to safeguard players’ health, Check OUT

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FIFA intended to see a good amount of additional time that would justify time deducted from the official 90 minutes owing to cards, on-field conflicts, injuries, goal celebrations, substitutions, and time-wasting shenanigans by the players.

Many times players intentionally take longer while taking free-kicks, corners, or goal-kicks. With the intention of increasing playing time, FIFA intended to introduce this rule, and the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar successfully saw that as 43 out of 62 games reached 100 minutes mark.

However, the introduction of this rule means when one team is already leading by 6-8 goals, a huge amount of additional time will only mean more goals. This can be fruitful for a league match or two-legged knockout matches where 1 or 2 more goals during that additional time can be crucial to the outcome.

FIFA New Rule: FIFA mulling 2 BIG RULE changes, legendary referee Collina backs ‘Mercy Rule’, discussion ongoing over mandatory rest period to safeguard players’ health, Check OUT

During the recent Premier League match where Liverpool won 7-0 against Manchester United, 6 goals were scored and 10 substitutions were in the second half of the game. In spite of that, referee Andy Madley added only 3 minutes at the end of the 90th minute. When he was questioned about it, he said FIFA should be considering a ‘Mercy Rule’ to their 100-minute match time rule.

FIFA chief Pierluigi Collina proposes scrapping stoppage time in one-sided matches pic.twitter.com/QH3lArs1Bl

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A similar thing happened during the Premier League match where Brighton were leading with a 4-0 goal difference against West ham united at the end of the 90th minute. Pierluigi Collina, the FIFA chief of referees said that the referees were using ‘common sense’ during these matches. He said, “Maybe in the future we may consider to say that additional time has not to be given at the end of the match if there is a difference bigger than X goals between the two teams, but that would be in the laws of the game.”

He added, “Now it is common sense — but common sense is not common sense if it affects someone. In Spain v Costa Rica at the World Cup, Spain were leading 6-0 and eight minutes of additional time were given. Spain scored one goal in additional time and that goal could have cost Spain or Costa Rica qualification for the next round of the competition.”

FIFA New Rule: FIFA mulling 2 BIG RULE changes, legendary referee Collina backs ‘Mercy Rule’, discussion ongoing over mandatory rest period to safeguard players’ health, Check OUT

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The other rule FIFA is considering implementing is the mandatory period of time a player should get for rest. The specific rules that FIFA wants to implement to protect players’ health in a better manner are –

Where it’s possible, there should be at least a gap of 72 hours between two matches
A mandatory rest period in a year for every player
At least one rest day every week for all players which would be implemented practically considering their schedule
Every player would need to respect and follow these guidelines

The Apex body would be forming a new multidisciplinary working group that will look over the implementation of these rules in a considerate, fair, and practical manner. This group will be formed with technical and medical experts and people from stakeholders, like FIFPRO. When the proposal was presented during the consultation process, all confederations supported these terms. Now it only needs the approval to set the rules in motion.