Dirty TacklePremier League clubs to get ‘how to tackle’ DVDs for players
With increasing confusion in the Premier League over which tackles should or should not be punished, an attempt to teach players what is acceptable is being made in home video form. "How to tackle" DVDs will be sent to clubs next week because if there's one thing professional footballers will pay attention to, it's instructional videos.
From Reuters:
Mike Riley, general manager of Professional Game Match Officials Limited, has met with the Professional Footballers Association (PFA) and the League Managers Association (LMA) as well as leading referees to clarify exactly when a tackle will be deemed dangerous. [...]
"That message is that if you commit to a tackle that's at speed and with intensity, typically with both feet off the ground, then you put yourself at risk of being sent off."
The DVD is intended to show the difference between careless tackles, reckless tackles and tackles using excessive force using examples from recent Premier League matches.
"(Law 12) specifies the distinction between careless, reckless and excessive force. Ultimately, it's about determining the difference between yellow card and red card offences," Riley said.
It's unclear exactly how the DVD will depict the different kinds of tackles, but I'm hoping for a roundtable discussion moderated by Paul Scholes in there somewhere.
