The Ref Stop

SkySports reporting of the proposed new IFAB laws

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Not really. Doesn't have to be the left back taking a long throw on the right side. I don't think the Game needs to wait patiently for that player to casually make his way over. I would hope that instructions to refs are going to be that the count can start after a reasonable time, even if a player isn't there to make the throw in.

As I recall, the rule in basketball, once upon a time, was that the player closest to the ball when it went out had to do the throw in. I personally wouldn't mind that rule, even though I've often been the one coming over to take a throw as I have a strong throw (OK, also because I'm not as strong with the ball at my feet . . .)--but I don't imagine the Game would have much appetite for that idea.
Why not?

Having specialists on restarts is part of the game and has been for? Well before I played it, and as a right back I did not take restarts in the final third of the pitch, the players with the skill to meet the teams approach did. Whatever this is should reflect reasonably that is the game as it is played.
 
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The Ref Stop
It's important to mention that there is a stop clock in futsal. Which means the 4 second count is not so that we don't lose playing time. its to make the game faster and more attractive "for the benefit of the paying customer" 😉. Faster and more attractive is what's lacking in football now. Those games are few and far between.

As somebody who coached Futsal coach I can state it isn't for the benefit of the playing customer because apart from a handful of Countries Futsal isn't watched wildly.

If you are interested in Futsal Luke Ballinger is England most capped player, he also plays for Melksham Town in the Southern League and played not infrequently in front of more people watching Melksham than watching England's futsal team.

The four second rule is part of the game of Futsal, its what those who play the game want, its a fast paced game, with a very high ball rolling time, with lots of rolling subs to recover - Subs are regularly made in the first twenty minutes of games due to the physical demands.

Futsal as a game is entirely different to football.

Football the game is faster than it has ever been, the ball in play (ball rolling time) is at historic highs, players run further with midfielders putting in 11k + in games, more goals are sored in pro football that the seventies, eighties, nineties .. This sport as it is, played by humans attracts people to watch it in numbers no other sport does as it is.
 
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I think the paying customer in Futsal is the player . . .

Indeed, on 99% of football games played, the paying customer is rhe player, not the fans (hmm, maybe it is the fans in youth, as Mom and Dad are paying . . . )
 
As somebody who coached Futsal coach I can state it isn't for the benefit of the playing customer because apart from a handful of Countries Futsal isn't watched wildly.

If you are interested in Futsal Luke Ballinger is England most capped player, he also plays for Melksham Town in the Southern League and played not infrequently in front of more people watching Melksham than watching England's futsal team.

The four second rule is part of the game of Futsal, its what those who play the game want, its a fast paced game, with a very high ball rolling time, with lots of rolling subs to recover - Subs are regularly made in the first twenty minutes of games due to the physical demands.

Futsal as a game is entirely different to football.

Football the game is faster than it has ever been, the ball in play (ball rolling time) is at historic highs, players run further with midfielders putting in 11k + in games, more goals are sored in pro football that the seventies, eighties, nineties .. This sport as it is, played by humans attracts people to watch it in numbers no other sport does as it is.
I agree with what you say. But we have different experiences. I work on a national womens futsal league (in another country). Spectator numbers are small, televised audience is small (online). We have been briefed that the clubs want the referees to be proactive with the restarts to speed up the game for the benefit of the audience. Yes, the four second count is the four second count - but it’s application and the details around its application are clearly briefed and understood to be for audience benefit.

I’m not making this up;) So, I think there are parallels and things to learn. An obvious one has come up here. Just like a futsal player who holds the ball in the air hoping to delay the count, how will big football deal with a footballer who ambles to the farthest ball to delay the count…
 
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The game is for the spectators and fans. Without them there is no game (I wish VAR makers knew this). The law changes are about making the game safer, fairer and more attractive to watch. GK and TI count, as well as tactical goalkeeper injury prevention are of the latter kind (making the game attractive to watch). Players will always adapt to law changes and make it work.
Adaptability is also a curse, if there are loopholes, player will find it. That's why we have the dilemma now.


Which will be faster than every GK that is being taken with current laws in same senario. If otherwise, the problem won't be with the law change, it will be with the referee's application of it.
I would correct that. Football used to be for the spectators and fans, the behaviour of the governing bodies over recent years has shown they really don't give a hoot about fans. No better example than ticket prices and impossible travel at the World Cup, but add to that unneeded cooling breaks to shoehorn in mid-half adverts (effectively the introduction of quarters), ticket prices in England, kick off times that make it impossible for fans to get home, kick off times in European competitions that make it impossible for fans to go to home games without taking time off work, best part of £100 for a replica shirt, TV watching fans needing multiple broadcaster subscriptions to watch a single competition, and so on.

The game stopped being for the spectators and fans when money took over.
 
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