Barcelona legend proposes radical changes to football rules

Legendary Barcelona defender Gerard Piqué has proposed changes to football rules to attract a larger audience. He believes that the younger generation is more interested in watching short clips on YouTube and TikTok, while 90-minute matches fail to captivate them. Piqué reached these conclusions by observing his own children, who switch to their gadgets just ten minutes after the start of a football match.

Speaking to The Times, the Spaniard expressed his opinion that such changes could bring positive results in attracting new fans.

"One of the reasons we created the Royal League is because I saw how my children watch a football match, and after ten minutes they are on their phones and tablets watching other things simultaneously. Football is entertainment, so it's not just competing with other sports. It competes with Netflix, Amazon, YouTube, TikTok. Everyone has limited time. Football for 90 minutes is not as interesting."

Discussing rule changes, he added:

"You need to find ways to score more goals or avoid draws. Why not eliminate draws? In baseball and basketball, there are no draws. You come to a game, and if it ends in a draw, you wonder, 'Who won?'"

Piqué himself aims to be a catalyst for changes in football and founded the Royal League in 2022 with this goal in mind. The tournament is a football league, but teams consist of seven players, and the rules differ from traditional football. Changes include a penalty shootout in overtime, unlimited substitutions, and the use of "secret weapons" such as removing an opponent for two minutes.