Football tackles, a dangerous new trend
Recently a top FIFA medical official has stated that he is concerned about the increased level of dangerous tackles in the game of football today. Over the last few years the ferocity of tackles has significantly gone up with players at the receiving end
getting seriously injured as a result.
Players have broken their legs, been kicked in the chest and suffered career ending injuries as a result. Some people in the game today blame the coaches, some hold the players directly responsible while others put questions to FIFA. There are several solutions
to this problem, but something needs to be done to combat this rising level of violence in the game very soon.
Tackling is a skill that every player on the team must master including the goalkeeper. It is an essential element of the game. It is the ability to dispossess an opposing player of the ball. It is one of the most important aspects of football today.
In the sport of football there are two main types of tackles that players engage in, the first is a block tackle and the second is a slide tackle. A block tackle is when a player takes the ball away from an opposing player with fancy footwork while meeting
them head on. A slide tackle is when a defender or another player slides to relieve a player of the ball.
Over time, the tackles in the game have been getting more and more violent. In the past the players seemed to be a little bit more concerned with the wellbeing of their fellow players but not anymore. Now days we can witness high kicks, elbows to the face,
pushing to the ground and strong challenges to a players legs. All of these moves can cause serious injuries and end careers. There is one very strong reason why there is an increase in these types of strong challenges.
That reason is the immensely huge desire to win. So much is riding on a team winning that at times a player will try and do anything to put his team ahead. The recent rise in heavy challenges has prompted strong criticism from one of FIFA’s top medical officials,
the chairman of FIFA’s medical committee, Dr Michel d'Hooghe. Dr. Michel stated that the recklessness of the challenges looked as if some players were trying to end the careers of others. Stating that the ferocity of the tackles had taken a new turn in recent
years, he felt the solution lay with coaches and also with FIFA.
Dr. Michel said that he put a lot of the blame in the recent rise on the shoulders of team coaches. They, according to him, should be actively engaging in teaching their players about the negative impacts of strong and harsh tackling in the game. It is in
the interests of the entire sport if the level of tackling is brought down to an acceptable level in the next few years.
He felt that the responsibility also lay with FIFA, who should use video replay technology to punish those players, who engaged in reckless challenges and were not spotted by referees. These punishments should serve as a deterrent for other players and might
help to reduce the harshness of the tackles in the game overall.
There are many recent examples that we can see of the harshness that is creeping into the beautiful game. One of the worst tackles in recent history has to be one that was committed against Newcastle United player, Hatem Ben Arfa, by a very strong tackle
done by Manchester City’s player Nigel de Jong.
The challenge was so strong that it broke Arfa’s leg. The referee did not see it and de Jong got away with it scot free. This was one reason why Dr. Michel was stating that video replay technology should be used, especially in cases like this one.
Unless FIFA and the management of football teams do not get together and stamp out this increase in violence, it will slowly continue to increase. The use of effective and disciplined tackling should become part of the training schedules of all teams and
this hopefully will lead to a decrease in the recent spike in horrific and reckless challenges we witness in the game today.
Tags: