@Jacquesmetat Said
Reading the posts on this thread makes me think of the way football is refereed now. When I quit playing I became a referee and officiated in games for seven years. When I started out, referees had discretion and could apply what Jennifer calles the spirit of the game. Being a former player, I knew what goes on in a game and I could tell the difference between accidental incidents and malice. I could 'read' the play and I used my experience. That was how football was refereed from the top level of the old first division to the local parks leagues. Players didnt attempt to cheat because they knew the ref wasnt stupid and wasn't easily conned. In fact, there were situations in matches where referees would see a player trying it on and card the cheat. That's justice.
One of the problems with this though, was that it led to inconsistency. one ref might yellow card somebody for something and others would be more lenient. Some would whistle for every little thing and some would let some things pass. Most clubs were happy with this but at the very top of the game, players would complain about inconsistent refereeing (only when they lost. You never heard them complain when some 'inconsistent' refereeing was to their advantage). In the 1994 world cup and as a result of the appalling exhibition of cheating, gamesmanship and bad behaviour of Argentina in Italia '90 (especially that smelly greasy cheating drug addict c*** Maradona), FIFA clamped down and took away refereeing discretion. They gave orders that referees WILL yellow card players for so and so or give free kicks for this or that. With FA observers sitting in the grandstands watching the refs performance, referees no longer had any choice but to toe the line.
This has led to a situation where referees often have to give free kicks or penalty kicks or issue yellow and red cards for innocuous offences or borderline cases. In turn, this has led to players actively seeking to take advantage of any little situation and attempting to pressure referees into applying the letter of the law. We hear commentators talking about 'contact'. In other words, if the defender makes the slightest touch on the ball carrier, and he goes to ground the referee has no option to interpret that as a foul, even though the so called contact was negligible and in no way constituted a trip or push that could possibly produce a swallow dive with two toe loops and a triple salko!! Players will nowadays surround the referee waving imaginary cards, demanding that an opponent be punished, even if the offence was feigned. Typical south american behaviour which has infected the European game. The worst thing we ever did was let foreigners into the english game.
Players now spend a lot of time in training, not working on their playing skills, but on their ability to 'win' free kicks and penalties, and how to intimidate match officials into giving them advantages they haven't earned and don't deserve. And it is all possible because FIFA set rules in place that demand the letter of the law be followed.
This is how letter of the law has spoiled football. Letter of the law is a cheats charter because it denies the referee the ability to use his discretion or apply his wide experience of the game.
Well written, and interesting points. If this change has spoiled football, then how would you instead have addressed the issue that referees were inconsistent at the top level before the change?