Dear Slide-tacklers,

Lately, I have been thinking about something quite a bit and it is going to sound odd to you at first but after you consider all of the arguments for and against than it actually starts to seem sound.  Are you ready for this one?  Okay here we go:  What about a worldwide ban on slide-tackling?  Like you, being a traditionalist, I was appalled when I first heard it but then I followed the reasoning and have come to agree with the rationale.  Firstly, let's consider it for a moment.  Why do players resort to slide-tackling in the first place?  Isn't because they are caught in a desperation last ditch effort to gain the advantage?  Which means that they were positioned incorrectly in the first place.  So, logically, if we learn to play and position ourselves correctly then there should be no need to resort to that tactic anyway. 

But why ban it?  The reason to ban slide-tackling is to save the health of the players.  Nearly every match that I observe, somebody usually gets damaged to some degree as a result of a slide-tackle.  And I mean this at every level; from the children's league, up to our league, and straight to the Premier League, slide-tackling is injurious to football players.  That's a fact beyond dispute.  Already tackling from behind is illegal because the attacking player cannot see it coming.  This rule is in place in order to supposedly allow the soon-to-be-tackled player to prepare himself and brace for impact but, nevertheless, injuries are almost exclusively occurring from dangerous and aggressive slide-tackles.  The game has changed.  Players are way faster and bigger nowadays and their approach is way more specific.  The plastics and compounds used in the shoe bottoms are way harder than materials in the past.  Slide-tackling has almost evolved as the only legal way to injure somebody in football nowadays.  But this is no longer the 1920's when football was still emerging from the shadows of the rugby from which it sprain in 1863.  Just recall that ridiculous and criminal tackle last year on Eduardo by a defender (who, incidentally, is way too suited for rugby than football actually).  There was even consideration of amputating his foot at one point.  Was the general public aware of that fact?  Whew!  Isn't that shocking?   The pictures tell the story themselves so there is no need to re-cap the incident in words.

S p e c i a l    JIFL A n n o u n c e m e n t s: