There are three levels of escalation in soccer when it comes to penalties: the yellow card as a warning, the yellow-red card and the red card. If Urs Meier has his way, there should be another one: The former top referee is promoting the introduction of the time penalty, as known from other sports.
Former top referee Urs Meier from Switzerland has once again spoken out in favor of introducing time penalties at football matches. “A time penalty would be incredibly helpful, especially since the yellow card, based on the current game, is not a bad penalty,” said Meier of the “Stuttgarter Zeitung” and the “Stuttgarter Nachrichten” and added: “The referee could do it in the final phase because of A ten-minute time penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct, a complaint or a game delay would change a lot.”
He had raised the claim on previous occasions. Meier, who is also known as a TV expert, complained that there was a completely different culture in football than in handball, rugby or American football, for example, where there was “fair play education” and a higher level of acceptance for the decisions of referees. Therefore, proven rules from other sports would have to be transferred to football.
From Meier’s point of view, it would also make sense to only allow the captain to speak to the referee, as in volleyball or rugby. And to prescribe a short break for the professionals who have to be treated for an injury: “If the allegedly injured had to stay outside for a minute, there would definitely be less acting,” said Meier. In the German Handball League, for example, professionals who are injured while attacking and there is no time penalty for the opponent have to sit out three of their own attacks.
Urs Meier is one of the most renowned referees of his generation: in 2002 he officiated the German World Cup semifinals against South Korea and the final of the Champions League, and in 1998 he officiated the extremely politically explosive World Cup preliminary round match between Iran and the USA. He was voted Swiss referee of the year seven times.
