Aurelio De Laurentiis (76 years old), owner of the Italian club Napoli, the holder of the Italian League title “Serie A”, proposed making radical changes to the laws of football, with the aim of preserving the game’s appeal to new generations.
De Laurentiis, whose team is currently in second place, 9 points behind leaders Inter Milan, said in media statements: “If I were in the shoes of those in charge of the game, I would first suggest reducing the match time from 90 to 50 minutes, by 25 minutes for each half, without adding stoppage time, with a strict application of penalties against any player who deliberately wastes time by remaining on the field.”
He added: “I also suggest canceling the yellow and red cards, and replacing them with a system similar to rugby, where the player is excluded for 5 minutes in the case of a minor violation, and 20 minutes in the case of a serious violation.”
De Laurentiis added that amending the offside law would be an important step to enhance the offensive nature, explaining: “The new generation loves to watch goals, but the current offside restrictions reduce that. A goal cannot be disallowed due to millimetres. “We have to encourage scoring more goals, because the current show is no longer attractive enough.”
He concluded his statements by warning against losing the fan base in the future, saying: “The young generation is our treasure. “If we don’t give him what he wants, we will lose the interaction that the game has maintained for more than 100 years.”
