A FIFA panel is considering a proposal to make referees more benevolent towards players who foul in the penalty area.
The FIFA Task Force Football 2014 led by Franz Beckenbauer agreed that the so-called "triple punishment" of penalty, red card and suspension is too severe.
"A penalty is enough if it is a simple foul or a tackle where you try to get the ball but you are a second late," said Beckenbauer.

As football news goes, it's pretty vanilla, but making red cards in the box a more rare occasion, leaving goalkeepers more leeway to explore their more rambunctious selves in and around the general ankle region of attackers.

There's also apparently a rule which says no image but that one to the left can be used in a story on red cards on a football-related site.

Arsene Wenger's appeal against a two-match suspension has been rejected by Uefa and he will now be banned from the dugout for the start of Arsenal's Champions League group stage campaign.

Wenger was originally given a one-game ban for the first leg of the Gunners' play-off round tie against Udinese, following criticism of Swiss referee Massimo Busacca in the defeat to Barcelona last season.

Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger has been handed a two-match ban by Uefa after being found guilty of breaching the terms of a previous Champions League sanction.

Uefa opened disciplinary proceedings against Arsene Wenger for not abiding by the conditions of his touchline ban in last week's win over Udinese.

Arsenal will go up against Antonio Di Natale and Udinese

The playoff draw has been announced and for Arsenal it is not an easy one. They get Udinese who came fourth in the Serie and recently in the news for their sale of Alexis Sanchez to Barca. In fact, that transfer has a direct bearing to the Cesc Fabregas saga being played out between both clubs.

USWNT

Semifinal vs France is at 11:30 am on ESPN. See our piece from yesterday breaking down both semifinals. Frankie predicts USA 2-1.

Union

Danny Mwanga is backing Sons of Ben in the River Cup. Must be a tough choice, back the fans or the coaches.

Barcelona 3 Arsenal 1
There's been a lot of rubbish written about this match, and it's worth debunking some of it...
Myth No.1: Van Persie's red card wasn't a turning point
In the first half of the game, Barcelona managed one goal - a goal which was entirely of our own making.

MANAGING a football club is a highly stressful job as there is an unrelenting pressure to grind out results week in week out.

The past week has seen two of Britain's most decorated managers wage war on the media for different reasons after their sides saw their domestic and European ambitions dented respectively.

Most bizarre dreams last night. Samir Nasri was living with the lesbian couple who live across the road from me and he invented a machine which could fire footballs at cars and knock the driver out of them as they were driving along.

I asked him what purpose this machine served. "It's for the dark future he said.

A few days on, I still do not feel despondent about Tuesday night's defeat. I have to say, when the final whistle sounded on Tuesday evening, I wasn't even that disappointed. Much like Paris in 2006, I had mentally prepared myself for defeat as soon as the red card came out- furnishing my cranium with soft fluffy pillows upon which to wallow and cushion the blow of elimination.

Arsene Wenger told Pep Guardiola to congratulate Massimo Busacca, but the Barcelona coach was more interested in congratulating his players. The Swiss referee might have been important during Barcelona's 3-1 victory against Arsenal in a Champions League match Tuesday at the Camp Nou. He might even have been decisive.

Yeah, as if that's a red bugger.

Ok while the lines in the title are attributed to the belligerent American tennis star John McEnroe, they were exactly the words echoing across my mind (and am sure several million others) on tuesday night. As the referee pulled out the yellow and red cards in succession on account of a "technical foul" by Robin Van Persie and sent him off, the footballing world was left dumbfounded.

Yeah, as if that's a red bugger.

Ok while the lines in the title are attributed to the belligerent American tennis star John McEnroe, they were exactly the words echoing across my mind (and am sure several million others) on tuesday night. As the referee pulled out the yellow and red cards in succession on account of a "technical foul" by Robin Van Persie and sent him off, the footballing world was left dumbfounded.

Truth, the way it is.

Sums it up, real nice. (courtesy @AFCArmChairBoss)

Well played Ref.. F*ck you!

Thoughts welcome!?

Also Read:

Mr. Busacca, You Cannot Be Serious Mate!

Barcelona vs Arsenal – A Pragmatic View Of Proceedings

10 Brave Men vs 90483 C*nts – Congrats Barca, You Did It!

Truth, the way it is.

Sums it up, real nice. (courtesy @AFCArmChairBoss)

Well played Ref.. F*ck you!

Thoughts welcome!?

Also Read:

Mr. Busacca, You Cannot Be Serious Mate!

Barcelona vs Arsenal – A Pragmatic View Of Proceedings

10 Brave Men vs 90483 C*nts – Congrats Barca, You Did It!

Ref Review: Barcelona 3-1 Arsenal Busacca Bias or Barca Brilliance? is a post from: Just Football

Arsenal. Were they a) outclassed or b) robbed against Barcelona? Just Football's resident referee Joe Tompkins offers a ref's perspective:

If you had read some of the tweets from Arsenal fans that appeared on my timeline towards the end of Barcelona v Arsenal, I wouldn't blame you if you thought referee Massimo Busacca had been paid by someone to get Barcelona into the quarter finals.

Morning,

the post-Barcelona fallout continues with the news from UEFA that Arsene Wenger and Samir Nasri have been charged for comments made to referee Massimo Busacca after the game. I'm unsure of the specific charge but I suspect it's something that contravenes the 'Don't tell a shit ref he's shit, it'll really hurt his feelings' law.

Arsene Wenger and Samir Nasri have both been charged by Uefa with improper conduct for "inappropriate language" over comments made to the referee after last night's defeat by Barcelona.

Wenger was furious with referee Massimo Busacca for the red card shown to van Persie and confronted Busacca at the final whistle and their angry exchanges continued in the tunnel.

Arsene Wenger and Samir Nasri have both been charged by Uefa with improper conduct for "inappropriate language" over comments made to the referee after last night's defeat by Barcelona.

Wenger was furious with referee Massimo Busacca for the red card shown to van Persie and confronted Busacca at the final whistle and their angry exchanges continued in the tunnel.

The ref just blew it..

Bloody pissed!

Talking points –

• The starting eleven, it sucked! Showed the deficiency in tactical astuteness. We should have played with Gibbs and Clichy on the left and Nasri on the right, to exploit their weakness on their left.
• Where the fuck was our passing?

The fact that UEFA have charged Arsene Wenger and Samir Nasri following yesterday's truly pathetic refereeing performance from Massimo Busacca makes it look like someone is deflect attention away from a rather corrupt and stinking organisation. Before I start on this rant, I am not saying Arsenal deserved to win, Barcelona were dominating the game before the sending off, however it is undeniable

ARSENAL came up short once again as Barcelona shattered their Champions League dream at a raucous Nou Camp stadium last night.

Billed as a tie bringing together two of the greatest exponents of the beautiful game, the Gunners were outclassed, outfought and outthought as Barcelona proved why they are the most feared side on the planet.

Robin couldn't have put it any better

Arsenal are out of the Champions League. The challenge came unstuck once again at Barcelona and once again at the feet of Lionel Messi. The Argentinean maestro opened the scoring in first-half injury time and fired home the tie-clinching penalty in the 71st minute.

Robin couldn't have put it any better

Arsenal are out of the Champions League. The challenge came unstuck once again at Barcelona and once again at the feet of Lionel Messi. The Argentinean maestro opened the scoring in first-half injury time and fired home the tie-clinching penalty in the 71st minute.

Mr. Massimo Busacca has finally become a star performer and finally he has earned a nomination for Laureus sports awards. Mr. Massimo Busacca is very happy with this latest development. In case you were vacationing on Mars last night, this is what happened.

Man Of The Match: Massimo Busacca

Also Read:

Mr.

Mr. Massimo Busacca has finally become a star performer and finally he has earned a nomination for Laureus sports awards. Mr. Massimo Busacca is very happy with this latest development. In case you were vacationing on Mars last night, this is what happened.

Man Of The Match: Massimo Busacca

Also Read:

Mr.

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger and Barcelona boss Pep Guardiola didn't exactly see the same game. After Barcelona won the second leg of their UEFA Champions League series to advance to the quarterfinals, 4-3, on aggregate, Wenger suggested the Gunners would have won if Robin van Persie had not been sent off.

A Lionel Messi-inspired Barcelona knocked Arsenal out of the Champions League again with a dramatic 3-1 victory at the Camp Now.

It was an Arsenal performance that asked a lot of questions. Arsenal looked set to head into half-time at 0-0, despite losing their goalkeeper Wojciech Szczęsny early in the match to a hand injury, but then Cesc Fabrgas inexplicably tried a back-heel 20 yards from his own goal with 90 seconds left in the half.

A Lionel Messi-inspired Barcelona knocked Arsenal out of the Champions League again with a dramatic 3-1 victory at the Camp Now.

It was an Arsenal performance that asked a lot of questions. Arsenal looked set to head into half-time at 0-0, despite losing their goalkeeper Wojciech Szczęsny early in the match to a hand injury, but then Cesc Fabrgas inexplicably tried a back-heel 20 yards from his own goal with 90 seconds left in the half.

Ok, let me get this bit out of the way. Barcelona are a great team, they played 11-a-side 5-a-side better than anyone, they have some of the best players in the world, and I understand why many people see great beauty in their football.

In the first half last night they schooled us. We could barely get near the ball and when we did we pretty much gave it straight back to them.

This Van Persie red card vs Barcelona turned Arsenal's second leg Champions League tie with Barcelona on its head. The Van Persie red card was given by Swiss referee Massimo Busacca at a crucial juncture in the game ( the game was tied at 1-1). Barcelona eventually won the tie 3-1, and progressed 4-3 on [.

One can't but wonder with Arsenal on the ropes, Nicklas Bendtner could have pulled off the most outrageous heist of the 21st century with an almost last minute goal. But as is his wont, the Dane's touch deserted him and Victor Valdes was able to stop him. It was the one clear chance that Arsenal had all evening.

Another CUNTalunyan

Robin van Persie was sent off. Sounds OK but the reason of his sent off is just a bit special this time. He was not sent off for showing studs, neither for abusing the referee, neither for hitting anybody (though some CUNTalunyan did try to kill him), but no, so why was he sent off?

Another CUNTalunyan

Robin van Persie was sent off. Sounds OK but the reason of his sent off is just a bit special this time. He was not sent off for showing studs, neither for abusing the referee, neither for hitting anybody (though some CUNTalunyan did try to kill him), but no, so why was he sent off?

A 90th-minute Lionel Messi penalty gave Argentina a 2-1 win over Portugal in Switzerland.

Paulo Bento's unbeaten start to his Portugal reign had appeared under threat when Angel Di Maria applied a clinical finish after 14 minutes. The Real Madrid winger scored from a great pass from Messi, who had picked the ball up on the right wing before cutting inside and releasing an incisive pass.

A 90th-minute Lionel Messi penalty gave Argentina a 2-1 win over Portugal in Switzerland.

Paulo Bento's unbeaten start to his Portugal reign had appeared under threat when Angel Di Maria applied a clinical finish after 14 minutes. The Real Madrid winger scored from a great pass from Messi, who had picked the ball up on the right wing before cutting inside and releasing an incisive pass.