Hey FIFA, let’s not go and ruin a good thing, OK?
The very fact that the world’s governing body of the beautiful game is thinking about eliminating draws at the World Cup really makes you think about how incompetent the heads of FIFA are. Sepp Blatter has made bad decisions before, but none that could seriously harm the game’s reputation like this one.
Sure, draws are never fun as an outcome, but they are a necessity when you consider the alternatives. Just think about how many games at this recently past World Cup could have been decided by a shootout. Does that really sound appealing?
A penalty kick shootout is a novelty in soccer – and hockey for that matter. If you’re going to use it decide games, you might as well just flip a coin instead. Games that you can play at a carnival shouldn’t be used to decide a game just for the sake of having a winner.
There’s a reason that the Golden Goal is no longer used either: It’s a terrible idea. The idea of sudden death works in ice hockey, but that’s just about the only sport it does in. The NFL is even making changes to their OT system to make it less sudden death and more fair.