It seems David Ginola’s Paddy Power sponsored, Adidas endorsed, campaign to rival FIFA overlord Sepp Blatter has finally got underway with his first proposal. We take a look at that one, and other suggestions that he is rumoured to be keen to explore:
1) Male and female world cup
No, the man does not suggest that men and women play together, although this may give England a better chance of success. The idea is that the female world cup could take place just after the men have completed theres. Ginola has said the idea could lead to “one global spectacular.” It has to be said, we agree with this one. The Olympics for men and women are held at the same time and it is a huge success, why should the World Cup be any different!
We want the women’s World Cup to be organised and played right after the men’s World Cup.
For example, it would have been in Brazil using the structure of the men’s World Cup. It would be interesting to see how we can set this up.
2) Winter Breaks in all countries
Ginola is reportedly considering proposals to put in a forced minimum of 2 weeks winter break, mid way through the season for all FIFA associated leagues. Winter breaks are already successful in other countries and it is thought that maybe if the Premier League had a break it wouldn’t lead to such a burn out come Summer
competitions.
3) A fifth official with a TV screen
The World Cup at last used goal line technology, bringing football out of the stone age. Now Ginola wants to add a fifth official at the ground who is watching the game on a TV screen with the benefits of replays. It is unsure as of yet what decisions the official would be able to make, but he would be miked up to the ref and probably be able to correct big decisions the ref has got wrong, for example red cards, offsides etc.
4) Getting rid of the group stage at the world cup
Perhaps one of the less likely suggestions. But it is rumoured that the former Newcastle player would like to do away with the group stage at World Cups. Ginola reportedly doesn’t like the system of playing each team once as often the third game can mean nothing to a lot of teams. He would rather allow 64 teams to enter and play it out in an FA cup style knock out.
5) 2 Legged semi-finals
It seems to be the way the game is going that semi-finals are played over 2 legs. However, with only the host country being at home it does seem a bit unnecessary to play the semi-final over 2 legs. This doesn’t seem to deter Ginola though, the Frenchman feels playing the game over 2 legs would add to the atmosphere and the occasion. Imagine if Brazil had to play Germany again after their 7-1 humiliation!
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