Blog Post 3 (Flaws in The Rules of Soccer)
Thomas Caleb Pruett
4/14/2022
PS. 101 Prof. Jenkins
Blog Post #3
Flaws in the Rules of Soccer
There are many problems facing the world soccer community as a whole that are seemingly inevitable. Other issues that the sport faces are unavoidable because they are just the inherited nature of such a competitive game. It is human nature to be competitive and win at any cost necessary. Just like any other sport, game, or even government, some rules and laws must be followed to make the sport work smoothly and fairly, well at least that is the goal. Soccer is no different than any other sport in the sense that there are rules to play, some stricter and more enforced than others. The first known origins of soccer are present as early as the 2nd and 3rd centuries found in a Chinese military manual, but since then the sport has evolved tremendously. The beginning of modern soccer as we know it is credited to have begun in England around 1863. The English were the first to have written a formal rule book that consists of detailed rules to how the game is to be played and officiated. At its base, soccer is a simple sport consisting of a large field with a goal at each end. Each team has 11 players whose job is to not only manipulate the ball into the goal of the opposition but also to keep the ball out of their own goal. The basic rules within the game were somewhat vague but as time has gone on have adapted to be far more intricate and detailed. As mentioned earlier, the goal of implementing these rules is to make the game fair and smooth, however, because of how widespread and old the sport is the rules have become heavily debated. Causing issues worldwide concerning rules like, simulation (flopping), handball fouls, and most recently the addition of VAR (Video Assistant Referee).
Flopping, or as listed in the rule book, simulation, is when a player over exaggerates contact from a defender to draw a penalty from the referee. "Simulation" was never a problem in the sport up until its emergence in the early 2000s. Since then, "simulation" has become more prevalent in all levels of the sport from youth soccer to professional. Granted this is a smart tactical way to gain an advantage over the opponent but does not take away from the fact that "simulation" is a form of cheating. Players and teams across the globe have realized this tactic and, in some cases, encourage it by teaching players how to “draw a foul”. Referee organizations have caught on to this as well and implemented what is known as the “simulation rule”. This rule states that “attempts to deceive the referee by feigning injury or pretending to have been fouled” will be sanctioned as unsporting behavior which is misconduct punishable by a yellow card. Here is where the real controversy arises. Often referees do not use this rule and let the offense slide by so to speak, despite the recent efforts to mitigate the issue at large. As a result of this, big games in major leagues and national tournaments have come down to instances of simulation on which the game outcome depended on. For example, in a world cup match between Mexico and Netherlands, a Netherlands player later admitted to flopping to win a penalty which resulted in the Netherlands winning and eliminating Mexico from the world cup.
The handball rule should be simple, if the ball comes in contact with a player's hand, then the opposing team is awarded a foul. However, this is not the case and much like other rules the handball rule has evolved and sparked much controversy in the soccer community. The rule itself is quite confusing and hard to understand for most players: “if a player deliberately touches the ball with their hand/arm, for example moving the hand/arm towards the ball; touches the ball with their hand/arm when it has made their body unnaturally bigger”. The big point of debate is what is meant by “when it has made their body their body unnaturally bigger”. Because of this vague description which is largely left up to the interpretation of the referee, many faulty calls have been made at all levels of competitive soccer. People around the world are calling for a re-write of the rule into something more straightforward and understandable.
Finally, is the addition of VAR to professional leagues and international competitions. VAR stands for Video Assistant Referee, and it does exactly what it sounds like. VAR is used as a tool for referees when a decision is not clear in real-time the referee will review it on a small screen kept on standby and decide that way. Although this may seem like a great addition to the sport, soccer fans around the world claim that the addition of VAR slows down the game for the refs to make decisions and that some incidents are too subjective. However, the addition of VAR was ultimately inevitable based on how much technology is growing in the sports world and will only continue to evolve and better itself. As you can see, there are many topics of debate and flaws within the soccer rule system like simulation, handball, and VAR. At the end of the day, the controversy surrounding rules is unavoidable but is minimizable and should be looked at in more detail by individuals in the power of rulemaking and soccer organizations around the world.