FIFA boss Gianni Infantino caused outrage with his recent plans – later aborted – to sell off the World Cup to private investors. UEFA said the plan “crosses a line,” while new PM Andy Burnham has said it would mean FIFA has “sold out”.
But it’s not the first time a change to football has been mooted, then shelved. Here James Moore looks at the ideas which were shown the red card…
Offside ban: As Fifa’s technical development director, Marco van Basten proposed scrapping the rule back in 2017, reckoning that it would make the game more attacking and “attractive.”
A match was played without offside between Dutch clubs Ajax and AZ ’67 in 1968 which ended 2-1. But changes have been resisted over fears about goal-hanging and packing the box with defenders.
Penalty run ups: Another of Basten’s proposals was for spot kicks. It involved an outfield player starting 25-metres out from goal and being given eight seconds to try and either dribble round of fire past the keeper. A similar idea, borrowed from ice hockey, was tried in America’s MLS in the 1990s but it was dropped over collisions and injuries.
Kick-ins : Some early codes of football had a kick-in rather than a throw-in. FIFA’s Chief of Global Football Development, ex-Arsenal manger Arsene Wenger, has revived the idea, finding that throwing teams usually lose possession. The concept was trialled in the Isthmian League in the 1990s but teams tended to simply use them for long balls into the box.
Bigger goals: Standard goalpost dimensions, which measure 8 feet high by 24 feet wide, were established in 1875. Ex-FIFA President Sepp Blatter met opposition from purists when he suggested bigger goals in 1996, but in 2024 Italy’s ex-goalie Gianluigi Buffon said changes may be in order, because keepers have got physically bigger. There’s no plan to change goals yet though.
Orange and blue cards : In 2014 former Fifa executive Jérôme Champagne suggested the idea of introducing orange cards alongside yellow and red as a type of sin-bin, but nothing came of the idea. Similar plans for a blue card were ruled out for elite football in 2024.
European Super League : In 2021 plans for a competition involving the continent’s 20 top clubs, including six from the Premier League, collapsed after a public backlash. British clubs quickly dropped out after protests, with Arsenal among sides admitting they had “made a mistake” in a letter to fans.
British Cup : Back in 1902, a British League Cup competition was held to raise cash for the Ibrox Stadium disaster victims and involved the winners and runners-up of the Scottish and English Football Leagues. Proposals in the 21 st century for a cup competition involving clubs from across the home nations have come to nothing.