The FIFA Task Force Football 2014 led by Franz Beckenbauer
agreed that the so-called "triple punishment" of penalty, red card
and suspension is too severe.
"A penalty is enough if it is a simple foul or a tackle
where you try to get the ball but you are a second late," Beckenbauer, a
World Cup-winning player and coach with West Germany, said.
"If you have a violent foul, if it would have been a
red card anywhere on the field, then it's a penalty and a red card." Red
cards would still be given for handball offenses, which stop a certain goal,
under the 20-member panel's proposal.
FIFA's head of refereeing, Massimo Busacca, said the new
proposal would have stopped him sending off South Africa's goalkeeper in a 2010
World Cup match against Uruguay.
Busacca was required to dismiss Itumeleng Khune for bringing
down Luis Suarez despite only slight contact. South Africa lost 3-0 and Khune
missed the final group-stage match against France.
"This is one of the changes we would want to see, when
the goalkeeper challenges but finds the (forward's) legs," said Busacca,
who is part of the expert panel.
FIFA will now present a new draft to its rules-making panel,
known as the International Football Association Board (IFAB). It next meets
March 3 in England and can approve the changes that would take effect in July.
FIFA President Sepp Blatter created the task force to
suggest ways of improving football before the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.
In a four-hour session Tuesday, the panel debated giving
more clarity to the offside law relating to players who are not actively
involved in an attacking move.
Busacca said he routinely advised referees and assistants to
let play unfold before judging whether players in an offside position were
"active or passive." "I don't think we could find better
words," the Swiss two-time World Cup referee said.
The task force, which included former World Cup winners Cafu
of Brazil and Christian Karembeu of France, agreed to discuss the offside rule
at its next scheduled meeting in December.
They also backed a previous IFAB decision that coaches
should not use gadgets and technology aids in the dugout.
