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UEFA meet to follow `golden goal' rule

By Our Special Correspondent

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, FEB. 29. Less than a decade after it was implemented, the golden goal rule in football is to be scrapped from July 1 this year. The decision to this effect was taken by the annual meeting of the International Football Association Board (IFAB), the lawmaker of the game, in London on Saturday.

However, the rule will still be in place, during the UEFA European championship in Portugal, the final of which is to be played on July 4, 2004, as the competition would have begun before the new rule come into effect. The new rule, advocated by the Board, is just the restoration of the old rule, prior to the implementation of the golden goal rule in the mid-1990s, which says that when matches are tied they will be followed by extra-time, consisting of two periods of a maximum of 15 minutes each and, where necessary, penalty kicks.

Apparently, the Board has been guided by the point that a team could score straight from kick-off without its opponent having a chance to even touch the ball. Also to be scrapped in the process is the silver goal rule that has been applicable in the European circuit for some time now, in which play, if a team scores, continues until the end of that period of extra-time thus giving the rival team a chance to come back. Under the golden goal system, play stops immediately if a team scores during extra-time.

Besides this, the meeting also stamped its approval on the usage of artificial surfaces for pitches in official competitions, as long as the rules of an official competition allow it, and provided the surface conforms to FIFA quality standards. Also from July 1, any player who takes off his shirt to be celebrating a goal will be sanctioned for unsporting behaviour. The meeting felt that this decision should not be seen from a purely aesthetic perspective, because in some situations and some countries, this gesture could be considered as provocation, notably for the fans of the rival team.

The meeting also ruled that no more than six substitutions per team should be permitted in friendly matches. But the IFAB chose to reject proposals to increase the maximum length of the half-time interval from 15 to 20 minutes and to advance free kicks by 9.15 metres if a player from the penalised team fails to retreat the required distance or prevents the free kick from being taken.

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