FIFA, through its influential former referee Pierluigi Collina, is proposing a significant alteration to the execution of penalty kicks. Collina, currently the chairman of FIFA’s Referees Committee, suggests a “single-attempt” rule, similar to penalty shootouts, eliminating the possibility of rebounds. This proposal, discussed in an interview with Repubblica, aims to address the perceived imbalance between the advantage held by penalty takers and goalkeepers.
Collina highlights the statistical disparity between penalty kicks and goalkeepers, noting that around 75% of penalties result in goals. He also points to the potential for rebounds, giving the attacking team a second chance. His proposed solution directly aims to reduce the high success rate of penalties, creating a more even contest between the attacker and goalkeeper. The proposed change would mean either a goal is scored or play restarts with a goal kick. The “single-attempt” rule would eliminate the pre-penalty buildup, characterized by players gathering around the penalty area, which Collina likened to “horses at the starting gate.” This aspect of his proposal focuses on streamlining the penalty process and reducing potential distractions and theatrics. The proposal suggests a desire to create a more focused, less dramatic situation that gives the goalkeeper a fair chance.
In a recent interview with the Italian newspaper La Repubblica, Collina recalled that he delayed the end of the 2002 men’s final, in which Brazil beat Germany 2-0, to ensure he left the field with the match ball in his possession. “I have a collection that could make a football museum jealous,” the 65-year-old Bologna native told La Repubblica (translated quotes via Football Italia). “I have the ball from the 2002 World Cup final: that day, I blew the final whistle, I think, 13 or 14 seconds late, insignificant for the result, just to make sure the ball was in my hands, so I could take it home with me. During the award ceremony, before receiving my medal, someone from the organization told me, ‘Pierluigi, if you give me the ball, I’ll hold on to it for you.' I replied: ‘Not a chance, the ball stays with me.’ In the photos of the ceremony, I’m always holding that ball.”
During his nearly two-decade officiating career, Collina became one of the most instantly recognizable referees in world soccer, thanks chiefly to a severe form of alopecia that left him completely bald in his mid-20s. And in his interview with La Repubblica, Collina said Italian refereeing chiefs attempted to end his career over his alopecia. “They tried to make me stop refereeing because I had lost all my hair‚” he said. “When I suffered from alopecia totalis at 24, I lost all my body hair within two weeks. I was only able to continue because I was ‘pretty good’. The refereeing authorities suspended me for three months. Then they tested me: they sent me to officiate a match in Latina, a heated stadium, to see how people would react to me. I will always be grateful to that crowd: that day, they couldn’t have cared less about having a bald referee.”
Source: WorldSoccerTalk
