Letter 33 – NEWS – March 98

They’d all like to be back on the 12th of July 1998! The coaches of the 32 qualified nations meeting together for the FIFA seminar took time out to visit the Stade de France.

Between 8 and 10 March, FIFA brought together representatives of the 32 qualified teams for a seminar. The latest FRANCE 98 developments on the logistics side were explained in detail, together with new measures concerning the game itself.

Representatives of the 32 qualified teams (delegation managers, coaches, doctors and administrative managers), assembled at FIFA’s request at the Meridien hotel in Montparnasse, Paris, for three days of discussions on how the next World Cup is to be played from a sporting point of view. All the relative technical and logistical issues were raised: the competition programme, refereeing, stadiums and security measures—including a talk given by Dominique Spinosi, Head of Safety and Security at the CFO. The delegations were requested to present their two chosen strips and informed that at least two of their training sessions between matches must be open to the press, and that they should also hold a daily press call. The most keenly-awaited moment of the seminar, however, concerned certain new measures and a look at the rules of a game that “millions of people will be following avidly for over a month,” as Sepp Blatter put it in the press conference afterwards.

The first decision announced concerning the competition itself was that each delegation would only be able to include 2 goalkeepers in its squad, keeping a third in reserve back home, or even in France. The third-choice goalkeeper may only be called on if one of the two other keepers sustains an injury or falls seriously ill and is certified as such by a member of the FIFA medical committee. This ruling, limited to goalkeepers only, was employed during the recent Atlanta Olympic Tournament.

No more than 6 seconds

Another ruling pertaining to goalkeepers which will be strictly applied by referees concerns the 5/6 seconds the former are allowed to keep the ball before getting rid of it. This particular regulation has until now been looked upon with a certain indulgence by referees. For the 64 World Cup matches, however, it is to be applied to the letter, in order to speed the game up. Also, to avoid wasting time when the ball goes out of play, ball boys and girls will keep 7 extra footballs at strategic points around the pitch.

Again relating to time, Sepp Blatter announced that “as is already the case in Italy, all time added on for stoppages at the ends of the first or second half must be indicated to the two teams and the spectators by the assistant referee on the touchline, by means of the display boards which are also used for making substitutions.”

Red card

Additionally, “so that a match does indeed last for 90 minutes”, the ref will add on 30 seconds for time taken during substitutions and one minute for each stoppage to treat an injured player. But FIFA’s most audacious new measure—adopted following a meeting of the IFAB (International Football Association Board) and made public at this seminar—is its decision to ban the tackle from behind. This ruling will not only apply to the World Cup, but will be instigated everywhere football is played following the World Cup Final on 12 July.

“Any tackle from behind will result in a sending-off—even if the tackle is by a goalkeeper—regardless of where on the field the tackle is made,” says Sepp Blatter. “We believe, like our Medical Committee, this part of the game to be unacceptable because it puts the victim at risk.” And we can now look forward to a “freer” brand of football as of 10 June 1998.