Trevor Steven: VAR, handballs and concussion breaks – seven rules that English referees must resolve in football in 2023
While some readers will have New Year’s resolutions and supporters may have January wish lists for their clubs, I have my own hopes for football in 2023 and they revolve around rules and refereeing.
Recent times have seen a conveyor belt of tweaks to officiating that I believe has only muddied the waters. The thinking has not been joined-up and it has left us with a product that can leave us baffled. That has to change this year.
The appointment of leading former official Howard Webb as English football’s new referees’ chief just confirms to me that there is a problem. I think Webb is a good hire, though, and I hope he gets the game back on track by addressing the following issues.
Refine VAR
Video assistant referees have been the biggest change to football in the last few years and, whatever we might think, they are here to stay. The question, then, is how to make them better.
For me, that means delivering absolute clarity on two things: the threshold for VARs to correct a clear and obvious error, and whether there ought to be a margin of error for offsides.
Handballs
What is a handball? It sounds like an easy question but it has become anything but. I want to see Webb sort this out and explain it to officials, players and fans alike.
In my opinion, it should hinge on whether a defender’s arms are in an unnatural position, and that has to be determined by the ref. But I’m not convinced they currently have enough of an understanding of the game from a player’s perspective, so they may need educating.
Manhandling
Confusion is rife over what constitutes manhandling of an opponent that should be punished with a penalty kick. We saw it at the World Cup, where England saw Harry Maguire wrestled to the ground against Iran only to be penalised for a similar offence later in the same game.
My view is that if a defender’s arms are around an opponent and they are not looking at the ball, then that ought to be given as a foul. In the box that means a penalty, and that needs to be made crystal clear.
Yellow cards
I think we have lost sight of what should result in a yellow card. Too many bookings are being issued for collisions that are mistimed by a split second, resulting in too many players being suspended, and that is detrimental to the game.
A defender who stops a breakaway when they are not goal-side of an attacker, on the other hand, should absolutely be a yellow card. Referees need to focus on punishing cynical play rather than physicality.
Throw-ins
I’d like to see a crackdown on time-wasting at throw-ins. In the past, goalkeepers have only been allowed to hold the ball for a certain number of steps or seconds before releasing it. Why can’t we do the same with throw-ins?
Throw-ins should be taken within two yards of where the officials indicate, not the six yards or more we often see now. Players who infringe should get one warning and then a booking.
Concussion breaks
I’m tired of seeing players treated on the pitch after a blow to the head and being given the chance to argue that they are fine to continue.
Get them off the pitch and away from the cameras to be properly assessed and allow teams to make temporary concussion substitutions at no cost in the meantime.
FA Cup
It’s a ridiculous situation that we have VAR in some FA Cup ties but not others, depending on where the game is being played.
The obvious solution to create a level playing field would be to have no VAR until the semi-finals, when the competition moves to Wembley.
Some may find these suggestions boring but I think they would improve football and no one can tell me that any of them are debatable.
In time, I’d also like to see sin bins and the broadcasting of conversations with the VAR, but those can wait until we have resolved some basic issues with the rules of the game and the way it is refereed.
Trevor Steven is a former England footballer who played at two World Cups and two European Championships. @TrevorSteven63.