Injuries - EPL wants no more "knocking the ball out of bounds"

[Fulham Fan]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/eng_prem/4796269.stm

[sarabella]

I can kind of see their point. I don't know how many times I've seen someone go down to break up the run of play, he hobbles to the sideline, stands there for two seconds, and then raises his hand to come back on. For me, it's a form of diving and I absolutely hate it.

It makes sense to me to have the stoppage time dictated by the referee and not the players.

[Fratton Fred]

I can kind of see their point. I don't know how many times I've seen someone go down to break up the run of play, he hobbles to the sideline, stands there for two seconds, and then raises his hand to come back on. For me, it's a form of diving and I absolutely hate it.

It makes sense to me to have the stoppage time dictated by the referee and not the players.

fully agree.

every time a player goes down the other team are expected to kick the ball out. It's just another professional foul as far as I can see.

[superdave]

In the US-Ghana match, Ghana found a unique way to press the attack and also protect against the counter. They threw guys forward, and if a US player won the ball cleanly and had space to look for a pass, a Ghanaian hit the dirt behind the play. Always behind; the guys in a position to defend, strangely, never turned their ankles, only the players who were out of the play. About the 4th time it happened, the Yank crushed the ball way out of bounds in obvious frustration. It was disgusting. But our guys kept doing it. Me, I would only have done it if the player was in front of the play.

NOTE: The US did NOT deserve to advance. I'm just relating a recent famous match in which the fake injury to stop play was clearly a calculated tactic. Not excusing our crap performance.

[Milliano]

I never understood why they should knock the ball out. Does getting 'treatment' 30 seconds quicker have any real impact? The only situation that I see it being reasonable and fair is when the team with the ball has it will into their own end, without pressure - where they lose nothing from kicking the ball out (unless they need a goal quickly for example). I can see with a hit to the head, but the refs immediately stop play for that anyway. This is a nice change.
No more "Play! Play!" [....] "I didn't see the injury" :D

Yes superdave I remember that. It was another disgraceful element to the tournament. Remember when a Portugese player was faking an injury, the Dutch player kept the ball instead of giving it back.

[musicl]

This is good news.

[dustcowpoke]

Does getting 'treatment' 30 seconds quicker have any real impact?

Ask Alan Smith, David Busst, and Wayne Rooney.

[655321]

No one in their right mind would complain about this should it become a rule. I remember AS Roma using this tactic quite a bit when they faced Liverpool in the Europe a few years back.

[Alan_V]

Ask Alan Smith, David Busst, and Wayne Rooney.

Don't know Busst, but Rooney and Smith weren't getting up very soon and neither are the top to stay down long. In their cases, 30 seconds, 1 minute, 1:30 wasn't going to change things other than how much added time was involved at the end of the half/game.

[jayro75]

Ask Alan Smith, David Busst, and Wayne Rooney.

I would say those were extreme circumstances where it would be an obvious injury... This is designed more for the slight knock that feelds better after getting sprayed with that numbing spray...

[leg_breaker]

Definitely a good move. Most 'injuries' are nothing of the sort, and the ones that are are pretty obvious.

[hasselbrad]

Definitely a good move. Most 'injuries' are nothing of the sort, and the ones that are are pretty obvious.
You can usually tell a player is hurt when he doesn't roll around and grab something.
Good rule.
Start booking divers while you're at it.

[Milliano]

Ask Alan Smith, David Busst, and Wayne Rooney.

How would it have helped them? And those are rare.

[cleansheetbsc]

When you hear a bone crack or ligament pop, both distinctive sounds where a majority of the players can hear the injury, then one can expect the ball to be kicked out of play. Other than that, play on.

[cowboy5]

I love this. It makes the game more fair and eliminates Injury as a tactic.

[revelationx]

It's the right decision - the convention was being abused by cheaters.
Let the ref decide to stop the play if required. If a players puts the ball out to help his own team-mate then just have a normal throw in when resuming play.

[PsychedelicCeltic]

Ask Alan Smith, David Busst, and Wayne Rooney.
Their injuries weren't going to be solved by kicking the ball out quicker, and under the new rules the referee clearly would have stopped play anyway.

Anyway, great rule. In a sport which frankly has ******** all in sportsmanship, this was a cheap attempt at it, and one that was mercilessly abused. Taking it out of the player's hands is the best move.

[By-Tor]

I say keep the "fair play" knocking the ball out under the condition that the "injured" player has to remain off the pitch for five minutes or be subbed out.

[Kaynem]

Man thats great to hear. Its starting to annoy the hell out of me. Spoils the rhythm of a game completely.

[Pottertons]

fully agree.

every time a player goes down the other team are expected to kick the ball out. It's just another professional foul as far as I can see.

You have to remember though. The knocking out of the ball during injuries, is one of the un-written laws of the game.

So what happens if a player feels the need to do so, but the ref has not blown the whistle. Will the player who knocks the ball out to stop play get carded. Cause I tell you what, there's been plenty of times when a ball's been kicked out, or not for that matter, and the player in question has been seriously hurt.

The way I see it is this........If the player is feels that he is unable to immediately get up and walk it off within say............20 secs or so, then he has to go off for about 5 minutes to ensure that the injury is not serious. This way, they can just walk it off on the sidelines if possible.