Blatter has asked Franz Beckenbauer, head of Football Task Force 2014, a group designed to recommend rule changes to improve the game, to find an alternative to the “tragedy” of penalty shoot outs.
“Football can be a tragedy when you go to penalty kicks,” he said.
“Football should not go one-to-one. When it goes to penalty kicks it loses its essence.”
Blatter, though, an infamous and divisive figure on the world football stage, doesn’t have an alternative that he would like to see introduced in favour of penalty kicks, which have been a time honoured tradition in the sport.
He has also said in the past that he would like to see all group games in World Cups decided on penalties, further adding to the inconsistency of his remarks.
If penalty shoot outs are a tragedy – they’re not, they’re a perfectly fair and appropriate way to conclude a match that has emerged a stalemate after 120mins – then that surely makes goals that have not been allowed despite clearly crossing the goal line even more unjust. Despite this, though, the Swiss has been dragging his heels over the technology, which is widely used in other sports, for many years now.
Fifa wil make a decision on goal line technology, which is currently under trial, on July 5 in Zurich.
Photo: Getty.
