UPDATE 3-Board limits subs and ends sudden-death goals
By Mike Collett LONDON, Feb 28 (Reuters) - The number of substitutes allowed in international friendlies will be cut to six from next season, soccer's law-making International Board said on Saturday. The Board, the sport's ultimate law-making authority, also decided to scrap both Golden Goals and Silver Goals to end drawn matches in finals of major competitions and to revert to extra time and then penalties. The decision to limit substitutes will end the recent practice by many European coaches of making up to 11 substitutions in friendlies and was the hottest topic discussed during a two-hour meeting. Many international coaches will be dismayed by the decision, though it is something of a compromise between FIFA president Sepp Blatter, who wanted a maximum of five substitutes to stop matches turning into farces, and coaches who wanted the current situation left unchanged. The English Football Association, who, along with their three British colleagues from Northern Ireland, Wales and Scotland make up the board with four representatives from FIFA, were dismayed by the decision. The FA's chief executive Mark Palios said: "Our views on this were pretty well known, but democracy has spoken and our view did not prevail." Twelve national coaches, including Luis Felipe Scolari of Portugal and Giovanni Trapattoni of Italy, supported the views of England boss Sven-Goran Eriksson, who changed his entire team at halftime when England played Australia last year. Mark Hughes of Wales and Berti Vogts of Scotland also supported Eriksson, but their associations did not and voted in favour of a restriction. The English FA's executive director David Davies said the FA were concerned that the views of the coaches were not taken more into consideration. "There was widespread consultation on other decisions, but not this one and we think there should have been," he said. NO GOLD OR SILVER The board's decision to scrap Golden and Silver goals was not considered a backward step, according to David Collins, secretary general of the Football Association of Wales, and cleared up a discrepancy in the game. "It evens things up for both sides in the event of a draw. "Say one team kicks off into the teeth of a gale and the other team scores a Golden Goal winner -- or a Silver Goal -- then the opposition does not have a fair chance of coming back into the match in the same conditions. "We have made it fairer for both sides," he said. The Golden Goal was first used to decide the 1996 European Championship final in England when Germany beat the Czech Republic 2-1 and it also determined the outcome of the 2000 European Championship when France defeated Italy by the same score. Whereas a Golden Goal ended the match immediately, the Silver Goal concept meant the match would end in favour of the team that scored at the end of the half of extra time in which it was scored. The only major match to be decided by the Silver Goal rule was Porto's 3-2 win over Celtic in last season's UEFA Cup final. A Silver Goal could again decide this year's European Championship final on July 4 as Saturday's decisions will not take effect until after the end of the finals. HALFTIME PROPOSAL The Board rejected a proposal to extend the halftime break from 15 to 20 minutes, initially proposed by the German FA to FIFA as a way of raising extra revenue from fans at matches and from increased TV advertising revenue. However, they did decide to re-introduce a yellow card for players who remove their shirts while celebrating a goal. The experiment of advancing free kicks 10 metres following dissent will be extended for another season. Urs Linsi, FIFA's general secretary said: "We still need more evidence on the benefits of this experiment, but a decision will definitely be taken next year whether it will become part of the laws or not." A recent innovation in Belgium, where a coach communicated with his goalkeeper via a radio link, has been outlawed, as has the use of one-piece kits incorporating shirts and shorts, as worn by Cameroon in the recent African Nations Cup. An experiment being carried out in Scotland with radio communication between referees and linesmen will continue for at least another season. >From next season, matches may be played on either natural grass or artificial pitches, according to the rules of the relevant competition and as long as the artificial turf meets FIFA standards. - Forwarded by Gaspar Almeida, www.goa-world.com __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Get better spam protection with Yahoo! 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