Thursday 19 January 2017 15:59, UK
Football lawmakers are finalising plans to discuss whether to introduce experiments to scrap some of the game's most established rules.
Marco van Basten, FIFA's new technical director, has proposed a series of changes to prompt further discussion, which includes scrapping offside and introducing sin-bins in place of yellow cards.
The International Football Association Board (IFAB) will hold its annual general meeting in London on March 3 and 4, and an agenda is expected to be rubber-stamped by the end of this month.
An IFAB spokesperson confirmed to Sky Sports News HQ that lawmakers will not be asked to approve any changes at this meeting.
But officials are expected to authorise a structure where ideas, such as changing penalty shootouts, will be evaluated to determine whether they should be tested.
IFAB technical director David Elleray, a former Premier League referee, will play a key role in discussions.
Van Basten, the former World Player of the Year, was employed by FIFA in September to oversee all areas ranging from innovations in technology to refereeing.
"We must keep looking for ways to improve the game," he said in an interview with Sport Bild. "To make it more honest, more dynamic, more interesting, so that what we offer is attractive enough. There are lots of variations which need to be tested in the coming years."
Van Basten says abolishing the offside rule would mean an end to games which "resemble handball where nine players, plus the goalkeeper, pack the penalty area and [the defence] is like a wall".
He argues sin-binning players would prove a greater deterrent than the yellow card system.
"That would frighten teams," he said. "It is hard to play 10 against 11, let alone with eight or nine."
Among Van Basten's other ideas is one to replace extra-time and penalties with ice hockey-style shootouts involving players dribbling towards the goalkeeper from "25 metres out".
The 52-year-old also suggested clamping down on time-wasting, stopping any player but the captain from speaking to officials and cutting the number of games in a year.
IFAB consists of the UK's British associations, England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, and four representatives from FIFA.
