How the 5 proposed new football rules will damage the beautiful game

The Dutch football association known as KNVB are set to implement five changes to the basic rules of football.

The new rules are projected to take effect in the 2023/24 season in the 2nd division and below as an experiment pending the approval of FIFA and UEFA.

And while the rule changes are so drastic that it is almost certain they will never get the needed approval, the mere suggestion of these five adjustments could be damaging to the sport.

Here are the five rule changes being proposed.

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If the KNVB gets their way, there will no longer be throw-ins in football, instead replaced by kick-ins which is quite frankly pointless.

When the ball goes out of play, it will be kicked back into action rather than thrown which will not only look bizarre but also be another unnecessary change which makes one wonder how that improves the game.

If these changes are implemented, players will now be allowed to dribble from a free kick rather than being limited to kicking it either as a pass or a shot.

Free kicks, as the name implies, are meant to be kicked, by the very definition of the activity, modifying it is quite contradictory.

If you thought five substitutions are too much and have watered down the quality of the game, brace up…it’s about to get so much worse.

Dutch football proposes that all games should have unlimited substitutions which means teams would be able to replace all eleven starters and even some substitutes if they want.

This is probably the most reasonable of the five proposed rule changes, it means players have to sit out for five minutes of play when an offence worthy of the punishment.

Other sports like rugby already use this and it admittedly would make the game more interesting for a team to be down by one player for five minutes.

The most controversial change of rules would be the shortening of each half from the iconic 45 to 30 minutes, thus reducing the game from 90 to 60 minutes.

To compensate for the lost time, a stop clock has been proposed which means the clock stops when the ball is not in play and resumes when it is.