Back Chatter – box

UEFA President Michel Platini released his book “Parlons Football” (Speaking on Football) just over a week ago and the man at the top of European football has used it to table some ideas he feels should be introduced into the game.

He has stated that he would like to see a white card introduced to go alongside the current yellow and red cards, but this card is to be used specifically to send a player to a sin-bin for back chat to referees.

He believes the move would help fight against the current “craze of contesting the referee” which has become “a veritable epidemic in football.” He feels that the adequate punishment would be for a player to sit out ten minutes of the match for such behaviour; many feel five minutes would be more reasonable.

It is just as well Sir Alex Ferguson has retired from coaching as his teams at both Aberdeen and Manchester United were renowned for ‘putting pressure’ on referees, and such a punishment could have resulted in both these teams playing with five or six players for ten minutes.

Platini was very clear that “it should not be confused in any way with a yellow card, which for its part is dedicated to fouls within the game.” There are some in the game who feel if introduced it should also apply to players who dive and fake injury from strong tackles.

Platini also proposed that the number of substitutes allowed in games should be increased from three to five. His idea was that he wanted to allow to substitutions to take place at half time with a further three allowed during the course of the match.

Another of his ideas tabled in the book was to remove the minimum age requirement for referees. He also would like to see goal line officials allowed to enter the field of play.

As a former striker he has raised a few eyebrows on his views to stop the triple penalisation of teams. This is a situation where a player is sent off for a professional foul, a penalty is awarded and a goal often being scored, seeing the offending team penalised three times for the one offence. If you added the suspension the player suffers for the send off, one could say it is in fact a quadruple penalisation.

Mr Platini has for a long time butted heads with FIFA President Sepp Blatter and therefore it comes as no surprise that he also suggests that the power afforded the President of FIFA should be reduced. “FIFA often operate as an electoral machine in the service of maintaining one man.” he is quoted as having written.

Hopefully the book will be translated into english as there are by all accounts many discussion points for fans across the globe.