The "radical" proposals that could change football as we know it
Football's law-making body has drawn up a series of proposals to put up for discussion, including 60 minute matches.
The International Football Association Board (IFAB), led by technical director and former Premier Legue referee David Elleray, has put together a series of proposals to make football "fairer" and "more attractive".
The potential changes include:
60 minutes of actual playing time,
penalties awarded for backpasses,
penalty goals awarded for handling the ball on the goalline,
players being able to dribble from free-kicks and corners,
the ball not needing to be stationary in order for set-pieces to be taken,
goal kicks not needing to leave the area before being touched by a defender,
teams being docked points for surrounding officials,
the whistle only being blown for half-time and full-time when the ball goes out of play
and goal kicks being awarded following a missed penalty rather than allowing rebounds.
The most radical of these changes is the potential change to 60 minutes of playing time, but as Elleray pointed out in an interview with 'Sky Sports News HQ', it is not as crazy as it sounds, he pointed out that "in other sports the clock is stopped when the ball goes out of play" and "in most top-level football you only get about 60 minutes of play where the ball is actually in play", before going on to suggest that the measure could be away of avoiding time-wasting tactics.
Elleray admitted that the changes were not likely to be put into action soon, insisting that it is a "five-year strategy" and that "some of the more radical suggestions may take a couple of years". But he also made it known that several of the proposals were already being trialled at various levels.
According to the former referee, the ultimate aim of the proposals is to "make football more attractive, faire and to improve the behaviour of players."