The Dutch FA have announced proposals to revolutionise the sport of football with a change of rules ahead of next season.
KNVB directors Gij de Jong and Sjors Brouwer recently updated UEFA and FIFA about the changes they have tested in the Netherlands since 2017.
Their intentions are to make the game faster, sportier, fairer and more aesthetically pleasing to watch.
Football has undergone various major changes over recent seasons, such as the introduction of VAR, goalline technology and goal kicks.
However, these new additions, if successfully brought into the game, would completely revolutionise the beautiful game. We’ll leave it up to you to decide whether that’s in a positive or negative way.
What changes are the Dutch FA proposing?
In a statement on the official KNVB website, Dutch amateur football director Jan Dirk van der Zee explains that Dutch football wants to bring in new rules, and test them in the country’s second division from next season onwards. The changes have been tested in amateur football for five years.
Here are the five concepts that he wants to bring in:
- Throwing in is kicking in – “If the ball goes over the sideline, you can shoot or dribble it in. The same concept will apply to kick-off, corner kicks and goal kicks. These actions usually take up to 15 minutes of a match. Thus the new idea would give fans more action.”
- Dribbling on a free kick – “In the current rules, free kicks take approximately 11% of playing time per game. This gives wiggle room for time-wasting. But the self pass would allow a player to dribble from the second the referee has stopped the play.”
- Time penalty – “The Dutch want to abandon the card system. They believe that players take yellow cards for granted due to the lack of immediate consequence. But they theorise that the footballers would react very differently if they knew there was potential for them to miss five minutes.”
- Unlimited Switching [substitutions] – “This idea would add an extra bit of flare to a game. You could change players without the match having to stop, with what they call ‘flying substitutions’.”
- Pure playtime – “In 2020, an average Champions League match featured just shy of 60 minutes of clean playing time. Thus to improve the pace, they’d have two halves of 30 minutes.”
How have fans reacted to the proposed changes?
Fans have been reacting to the proposals on Twitter – and it’s fair to say that, whilst there are areas of agreement, the majority are not too impressed by the concepts:
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