Football chiefs to rip up rule book on penalties to clamp down on gamesmanship after Emi Martinez’s World Cup antics
EMI MARTINEZ has been warned by football’s law-makers: We’re coming for you.
The Aston Villa keeper’s World Cup shootout antics for Argentina are set to bring a major change in penalty rules for next season.
Martinez was the hero of the shootout wins over Holland and France as the South Americans triumphed in Qatar.
But his gamesmanship and delaying tactics aimed at destabilising opponents riled the International FA Board.
The Ifab is making changes that will restrict keepers from interfering and seeking to psych out penalty takers from next term.
Martinez used every trick in the book to put off shootout opponents. The keeper:
- dropped the ball as he appeared ready to hand it to Steven Berghuis
- kicked the ball to the side and stared down Teun Koopmeiners
- booted it into the centre circle as Luuk de Jong neared the 18-yard box
- delayed France’s Kingsley Coman, including remonstrating with the referee
- picked the ball off the spot ahead of Aurelien Tchouameni’s effort, took it to his goalline then threw it to the edge of the box.
Martinez was not the only one whose behaviour was seen as a step too far by Fifa and the Ifab.
Holland’s Andries Noppert also tried it on and there was concern over the crazy goalline dances of Australia stopper Andrew Redmayne.
As a result, the Ifab agreed last week keepers should not be allowed to delay penalties or “unfairly distract” the kicker.
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It will now look to draft new regulations to be ratified at the AGM in London in March before rewriting the Laws.
Earlier this month, Fifa announced it has “opened proceedings” against Argentina over “potential breaches of the Disciplinary Code” and “Regulations in conjunction with the Media and Marketing Regulations”.