A RECALL FOR the ‘golden goal’ rule, getting rid of extra time and going straight to a penalty shootout after a drawn match are among the ideas being though over by Fifa President Sepp Blatter.

In a bid to encourage more attractive free-flowing football, Blatter wants to avoid teams playing for penalties in extra time.

“We have to try to find a way to encourage free-flowing football in tournaments like the World Cup, with teams playing to win” said Blatter. We plan to take the opportunity to look at the concept of extra time as well. Often we see teams set themselves up even more defensively in extra time, in an attempt to avoid conceding a goal at all costs. To prevent this, we could go directly to a penalty shoot-out at full time, or reintroduce the golden goal rule. We’ll see what emerges from the committee meetings.”

Blatter is apparently concerned with the defensive football which characterised this summer’s World Cup, particularly in the group stages.

“In the first few matches of the group stage in South Africa, we witnessed some teams that went out to avoid defeat, that were playing for a draw from the outset. This is a topic that I would like to discuss at upcoming Football and Technical Committee meetings.”