Typhoon Fung-wong has moved away from the northwestern Philippines after carving out a trail of devastation, leaving at least 10 people dead and 1.4 million displaced.
Known in the Philippines as Super Typhoon Uwan, the intense tropical storm was forecast to head northwest towards Taiwan.
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Fung-wong lashed the northern Philippines while the country was still dealing with the devastation wrought last week by Typhoon Kalmaegi, which killed at least 232 people in central provinces on November 4 before pummelling Vietnam, where at least five people died.
At least 10 people died due to flash floods, landslides, exposed electrical wires, and a collapsed house in the provinces of Catanduanes, Eastern Samar, Nueva Vizcaya, Mountain Province and Ifugao, disaster-response and provincial officials said.
Among the dead were three children who were hit by two separate landslides in the mountainous province of Nueva Vizcaya, police told The Associated Press news agency, adding four others were injured. Another landslide in nearby Kalinga province killed two villagers, and two others were missing, provincial officials said late on Monday.
Fierce wind and rain flooded at least 132 northern villages, including one where some residents were trapped on their roofs as floodwaters rapidly rose.
More than 4,100 houses were damaged, Bernardo Rafaelito Alejandro IV of the Office of Civil Defense and other officials said.
“While the typhoon has passed, its rains still pose a danger in certain areas” in northern Luzon, including in metropolitan Manila, Alejandro said. “We’ll undertake today rescue, relief and disaster-response operations.”
Fung-wong slammed ashore in northeastern Aurora province on Sunday night as a super typhoon with sustained winds of up to 185km/h (115mph) and gusts of up to 230km/h (143mph).
The 1,800km (1,100-mile)-wide storm weakened as it raked through mountainous northern provinces and agricultural plains overnight before blowing away from the province of La Union into the South China Sea, according to state forecasters.
More than 1.4 million people moved into emergency shelters or the homes of relatives before the typhoon made landfall, and about 240,000 remained in evacuation centres on Tuesday.
Residents stand on the roof of their flooded house in Ilagan City, Isabela province, north of Manila, on Tuesday [Villamor Visaya/AFP]
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr declared a state of emergency on Thursday due to the extensive devastation caused by Kalmaegi and the expected damage from Fung-wong.
Climate change is making tropical storms – which are known as hurricanes, cyclones and typhoons depending on where in the world they take place – more frequent and extreme, driven in part by warmer oceans that contribute more water vapour and heat.
The two super typhoons to batter the Philippines in one week come as representatives from governments around the world are gathering in the Brazilian city of Belem for the 30th annual United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP30) this week.
Many of the countries facing the worst impacts of climate change, like the Philippines, have done the least to contribute to causing the crisis due to their relatively small fossil fuel emissions.
Distance is a huge part of the Ashes romance – cricket’s oldest rivals separated by 10,000 miles; half the world away, the ultimate sporting pilgrimage.
Ben Stokes and his England class of 2025-26 experienced Australian hostility as soon as they touched down. The captain was splashed across the front page of The West Australian on his arrival in Perth.
At least Stokes and his men travelled down under in ultimate comfort – airport lounges, business class, beds in the sky (perhaps not restful for Mark Wood, a terrible flyer).
For England players of the past – and Australians travelling the other way – an Ashes trip was undertaken by boat, meaning weeks and weeks at sea.
The modern cricketer would probably baulk at the prospect. By contrast, David Larter, part of the last England squad to reach Australia by ship on the 1962-63 tour, had a “dream” experience.
“You enjoyed being on a huge ocean liner like that, and the life it afforded while you were on there,” Larter, now 85, tells BBC Sport.
“The Marylebone Cricket Club, in their wisdom, paid for us to travel first-class. We got a mixture of old millionaires taking in a bit of sun, and us. It was out of this world.
“It was a time for bonding. By the time we got to Perth, we had a coherent unit, ready to move as one.”
Even the 1962-63 tour was not quite the gruelling expedition of previous Ashes journeys. The England squad flew part of the way, to Aden, where they met their vessel The Canberra for the remainder of the trip to Perth. In Larter’s words, that meant “just” 10 days on the high seas.
Larter was only 22 at the time. Standing at 6ft 7in, he was a bowler of lively pace, capable of extracting hostile bounce. He played in the last Gentlemen v Players fixture in the summer of 1962 and made his Test debut later that year against Pakistan.
It was only two years after Larter had made his first-class debut for Northamptonshire. Before then, he worked in an insurance office. He was the youngest member of a squad led by Ted Dexter and containing bona fide greats like Colin Cowdrey, Ray Illingworth, Fred Trueman and Brian Statham.
England were looking to win back the urn after being beaten 2-1 on home soil in 1961.
Almost unfathomably, with the first Test not beginning until 30 November, England gathered in London more than two months earlier, at the end of September.
After launch there was the question of how to fill the days at sea.
“In my case, you eat,” says Larter. “Honestly, I’ve never had, either before or since, such a sustained spell of magnificent eating.
“The stewards loved us. They’d bring these great trolleys of wonderful food, and they knew we’d eat it.”
With copious amounts of food available and an Ashes series to prepare for, the players had to keep fit.
“We’d have an exercise session in the morning, then there were badminton courts netted off for us. We’d shove weights about, and jump up and down and things like that,” says Larter.
The England management wanted to take things a stage further.
By chance, Dexter found that British athlete Gordon Pirie was on board. Pirie won 5,000m silver at the 1956 Olympics in Melbourne.
“He was invited to organise us,” says Larter. “He turned up with his shorts on and decided the best exercise would be running around the boat.
“It’s quite a long way around one of those big boats, but I did what I was told.”
Not everyone in the touring party was as agreeable as Larter. Trueman, never shy of speaking his mind, had just bowled more than 1,100 overs in the English summer.
“Fred voiced an opinion which meant in no way was he running around,” says Larter. “That just wasn’t what we did to get fit. To get fit, we played cricket.
“Fred said he’d just bowled all those overs in the season, and he wasn’t going to run around a boat for anyone. The Gordon Pirie thing died off after that.”
For Larter, the trip was not just a first England tour, but a first time out of the country. On the upper deck he mixed with the wealthy travellers, lower down he encountered the Poms emigrating to a new life down under.
“We found the greatest reception came downstairs,” he says. “There were people emigrating or moving for all sorts of reasons. A lot of them were young, out to make new lives. It was interesting to meet them. There were more than a couple of decent bars and you could have a quiet pint.”
The journey was not a straight passage to Perth. Remarkably, England tuned up for a tour of Australia by hopping off in Sri Lanka to play a game in Colombo.
“We walked out on to the field and Ted Dexter said I would be opening the bowling,” says Larter.
“I marked out a run, ran in, and fell flat on my face. A real sprawler. I picked myself up, went back, came in again and did the same thing.
“I’d lost my land legs. They weren’t going where I wanted, because I’d been on the boat.
“Ted came across and said ‘what’s wrong?’. I said they don’t work! He took me off. Barry Knight had to finish the over.
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Another learning curve for Larter was his encounter with England’s tour manager. In those days, the manager not only kept the players on the straight and narrow, but also acted as a figurehead. Tours were sociable occasions, with hands to be shaken and speeches to be made. The manager was often seen as an ambassador for the visiting team.
On the 1962-63 tour, the surprise choice for the role was Bernard Fitzalan-Howard, the 16th Duke of Norfolk.
“You had to respect the fact he was of royal descent,” says Larter. “You weren’t cheeky to him.
“First thing in the morning, he was addressed as ‘your grace’. If you were introducing him to anyone, it was ‘his grace’. After that, for the rest of the day, it was ‘sir’. There was that mark of respect, a bit like being in the forces. You knew who to salute, and who not to.
“He surprised us with his knowledge of the game. He was good at wanting to know about us and invited us all to dinner, two players at a time. Apart from that, his social movements were several scales above us.”
Not all of the touring party had a positive view of the Duke, whose presence added to a list of distractions in the eyes of Trueman. Among the playing squad was the Reverend David Sheppard, while Dexter’s wife Susan, a model, was also on the trip.
“All that the newspapers and television programmes were full of was where the Duke’s horses were running, where David Sheppard was preaching and what Mrs Dexter was wearing,” bemoaned Trueman.
This week, England will play their one and only warm-up match before the upcoming series, a three-dayer against England Lions in Perth.
In 1962, England played nine matches in five different states across six weeks before the first Test began. In five months in Australia they played 22 matches on top of the five Tests, reaching all corners of the country.
Larter lapped up the Aussie lifestyle, living off his tour fee of £1,250 – worth more than £23,000 today.
“I got offered about three jobs, just by talking to people,” he says. “I nearly thought ‘this is the place for me’. I almost moved there.
“There was never thought of a call home. I wasn’t offered and I never thought of it. We’d get airmail and yesterday’s Telegraph newspaper sent to the dressing room.
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But Larter’s Ashes was bittersweet. Despite appearing to have attributes that would suit Australian conditions, he did not play a Test, stuck behind established new-ball pair Trueman and Statham in the pecking order.
Though England went 1-0 up by winning the second Test in Melbourne, Australia hit back to level the series in the third Test in Sydney. Two more draws left the series level at 1-1, meaning the home side retained the Ashes.
It was “depressing” for Larter, though opportunity was still around the corner. Incredibly, England pressed on from Australia to New Zealand, stretching the tour to six months. Larter played in all three Tests, picking up seven wickets in the match in the series opener in Auckland. England won 3-0.
“I was really pleased to take a bagful of wickets,” says Larter. “It was almost ‘that showed em’.”
By the time England returned home it was almost the end of March and the new county season was only weeks away.
Larter floated around the England team for the following three years, taking his total of Test caps to 10.
He was part of the squad for the following Ashes tour of Australia in 1965-66, this time a journey taken exclusively by plane. There was more disappointment on Australian soil. Larter suffered an ankle injury that would eventually end his career. It was another Ashes tour on which he did not play a Test.
He drifted away from the game, describing his feelings as “anti-cricket”. Larter turned down coaching jobs to join his father’s haulage business.
He now lives in mid-Wales with his wife Thelma. He has his ceremonial England cap on display and still has the team photo from the 1962-63 tour, along with some projector slides of images captured aboard The Canberra.
“It was an unbelievable experience,” he says. “I mean that in its proper sense. You couldn’t believe it was going to happen, but it did.
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Bobbie Jackson
BBC Sport
Chris Eubank Jr has spent his entire life seeking the approval of his father and former world champion Chris Eubank Sr.
But in the days before the biggest fight of his career against Conor Benn – a revival of the family feud which started with their fathers 35 years ago – Eubank Jr cut an isolated figure.
At the final news conference before that grudge match at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in April, Eubank Jr spoke about the “pain” of no longer having a relationship with his dad.
They had, at that point, been estranged for several years with Eubank Sr criticising the match-up.
Eubank Sr also publicly called his son a “disgrace” after slapping Benn with an egg during a face-off.
“I’m going to stand in your corner? You must be mad,” Eubank Sr said.
“I will never be in your corner.”
A reunion between the pair looked impossible as the bout drew closer until Eubank Sr made the first move – reaching out via text message just 24 hours before the fight.
“I called him and he wanted to see me, I told him ‘I can’t take any negativity’,” Eubank Jr said.
“He said ‘no, I have nothing negative to say, I want to be next to you’.
“Regardless of what has been said and done, I’m always going to greet him with open arms.”
Eubank Sr had seen his son come under verbal attack – with his father’s absence used as a weapon – and felt he needed to act.
The pair met that night and kept their reconciliation under strict wraps.
The first anyone knew of it was when Eubank Sr emerged out of a taxi backstage- and elevator for those watching on TV – beside his son. The boxing world at ringside and at home witnessing a now famous sporting moment.
“You didn’t have any support, that was a very dangerous fight and I’m so glad that I cut off and away from you for so long and that I said there was no way I’m coming to that fight,” Eubank Sr said.
“I turned up at the last minute to give you the last piece of energy.”
The presence of his father on fight night clearly had a positive impact as Eubank Jr won by unanimous decision.
Eubank Sr will be back by his son’s side for the rematch on Saturday.
“Him in my corner gave me that boost, that extra per cent to get the job done,” Eubank Jr said.
“When it truly counted, he was there for me.”
‘Passing of my brother separated us even more’
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Their relationship first became strained in 2019, shortly after losing a middleweight title fight against George Groves, when Eubank Jr wanted to “walk his own path” as he reached a crossroads in his career.
Eubank Sr, who had trained and mentored his son at each and every turn, was “deeply hurt” by the decision to part ways.
“That caused us to separate and it shouldn’t have,” Eubank Jr said.
“Boxing and father and son should be two separate things.”
They grew further apart in 2021 when Eubank Sr’s son, Sebastian, died after a heart attack.
“It consumed my father and it affected me deeply, but I think I was able to deal with it a lot better,” Eubank Jr said.
“Everybody grieves in a different way, for him the passing of my brother it widened the gap and separated us even more.
“He wasn’t able to figure out how to deal with that loss and still have a working relationship with the rest of his children.
“We didn’t talk for a long time.”
Sebastian had become a father just a month before his passing in Dubai and Eubank Jr quickly assumed a father-like role to his nephew Raheem, having met for the first time at the funeral.
“All I have to do is pick up my phone, look at a picture of Raheem and I just light up and I’m happy for the rest of the day. I don’t know why,” Eubank Jr said.
Fatherhood and friendship – Eubank Jr looks to future
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After beating Benn in an enthralling contest, Eubank Jr was taken to hospital for what his promoter Ben Shalom called “precautionary checks”.
Eubank Sr spent “two nights and three days” by his side.
“He doesn’t leave the hospital and he was sleeping in the hallway,” Eubank Jr said.
“Was I expecting that? To be completely honest, no.
“We’d been estranged for four years and when I saw that I knew ‘Ok, he still loves me. He’s still my dad’.”
In the aftermath of such a gruelling bout, Eubank Sr asked his son to consider retirement, but Eubank Jr isn’t ready to hang the gloves up yet as he prepares for a new chapter.
In a poignant moment in the film, Eubank Jr tells his father he will soon be a grandfather to twin boys.
Eubank Jr says he wants to do things differently to his father.
“I want to be the type of father that my kids can come to and talk about anything. I couldn’t do that with my old man. He was too strict, he was too disciplinarian,” Eubank Jr said.
For now, talk of boxing is off limits for the pair as they look to focus on rebuilding their relationship as father and son.
“What I want from him as a father is friendship,” Eubank Jr said.
“I want to be able to go to the cinema, go to an event or sit at a restaurant and talk about anything but boxing.
“A bolder presence, a bigger military security presence in addition to the diplomatic presence is a big first step.”
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At least 13 people have been killed and more than 20 wounded when a car exploded in New Delhi, India’s capital.
Security forces have been placed on high alert across major states and cities as authorities have launched an investigation into the cause of the blast on Monday night.
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What happened in New Delhi?
At 6:52pm (13:52 GMT), a powerful, high-intensity blast tore through a crowded neighbourhood during the evening rush hour.
According to Delhi Police, the explosion originated in a moving Hyundai i20 car.
“A slow-moving vehicle stopped at a red light. An explosion happened in that vehicle, and due to the explosion, nearby vehicles were also damaged,” Delhi Police Commissioner Satish Golcha told reporters.
Images from the scene show shattered windows, mangled vehicles, and fire and smoke rising from burning cars.
Police later detained the original owner of the car, identified as Mohammad Salman, in Gurugram, Haryana. He bought the vehicle in 2013. Investigators said Salman had subsequently sold the vehicle to another man in New Delhi who in turn sold the car recently. The person Salman sold the car to has also been arrested. However, the car was still registered in Salman’s name and carried a Haryana number plate, according to local media reports.
Delhi Police have invoked India’s primary “counterterrorism” law, registering a case under Sections 16 and 18 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) along with provisions of the Explosives Act.
This means that even though officials have yet to formally confirm the cause of the blast or name suspects, they appear to be treating the explosion as a potential act of terrorism, not just a criminal or accidental blast.
Where did the blast happen?
The explosion occurred in a densely populated part of Old Delhi near the Red Fort Metro Station.
The blast took place at a traffic signal close to the entrance of the metro station serving the Red Fort (locally known as Lal Qila), one of the city’s most renowned Mughal-era monuments.
The site lies at a busy intersection linking the Red Fort with the bustling Chandni Chowk Market, where the impact of the explosion was felt.
The Red Fort itself, constructed by Emperor Shah Jahan in 1546, is an architectural masterpiece that blends Islamic, Persian, Timurid and Hindu design traditions.
The Red Fort also holds deep national importance because it was from its ramparts that India’s first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, delivered an Independence Day speech on August 15, 1947, marking the end of British colonial rule.
Since then, every year on Independence Day, the Indian prime minister hoists the national flag and addresses the nation from the same spot. This tradition makes the fort a living symbol of India’s sovereignty and freedom.
The front compound of the 17th century, Mughal-era Red Fort is decorated in India’s national colours for Independence Day celebrations in New Delhi [File: Manish Swarup/AP]
What’s the backdrop to the explosion?
The explosion occurred hours after police revealed they had arrested a Kashmiri doctor from Faridabad, also in Haryana, on charges of plotting a “terrorist” attack.
Haryana police said in a statement that they had found 2,900kg (6,393lb) of explosives, 20 timers, two dozen remote controls, a rifle and dozens of live rounds from the premises of the house where the doctor lived. Seven other people accused of helping the doctor were also arrested.
However, Indian authorities have so far not confirmed any link between the arrested doctor and the explosion on Monday.
What is the latest on the ground?
Police have intensified security checks across the city with a particular focus on railway stations, where incoming vehicles are being thoroughly inspected.
According to local media reports, major train stations across India – including those in Mumbai, the country’s financial capital, and in Uttar Pradesh, which borders Delhi – have also been placed on high alert as a precautionary measure.
Videos shared online show the wreckage of several cars scattered along a crowded street in Delhi’s old quarter as police moved in to secure the scene and disperse onlookers.
According to New Delhi’s deputy fire chief, the explosion ignited six vehicles and three autorickshaws.
Meanwhile, as authorities respond to the explosion, voters in the eastern state of Bihar are heading to the polls in the second and final phase of state elections, marking a significant political event unfolding alongside heightened national security concerns.
Security personnel and members of the forensics team work at the site of the explosion near the Red Fort [Adnan Abidi/Reuters]
What have witnesses said?
As panic and confusion swept through Old Delhi after the explosion, witnesses described scenes of horror and chaos.
“Suddenly, there was a sound of a blast,” Irfan told Al Jazeera.
“We came running, and we didn’t get too close because we were scared. We saw someone’s hand on the ground. They were completely blown up.”
“I saw someone’s lungs, and I also saw a car’s steering wheel completely damaged. I just cannot express, can’t imagine how their families will deal with this. I cannot describe how big the blast was,” he added.
Relatives of people injured or missing were trying to track down their loved ones.
Speaking to Al Jazeera, Nazish Malik said his brother-in-law, Mohsin, an e-rickshaw driver, was missing after the blast.
“After more than 100 calls on his phone, finally someone answered and said that the phone is at the police post at the Red Fort and your relative has been taken to Lok Nayak Hospital,” Malik said.
“When we heard that, we rushed here and got here around 8:30pm. My brother was already here. I got here late but found that the security was so tight, they are not permitting us to go inside,” he added.
“At least announce who is critical and who is dead. You can at least inform that bit,” he said.
A relative of Dinesh Misra, who died in the blast near the Red Fort [Anushree Fadnavis/Reuters]
What have been the reactions?
Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he has been briefed about the attack by Home Minister Amit Shah and expressed condolences for the lives lost.
Condolences to those who have lost their loved ones in the blast in Delhi earlier this evening. May the injured recover at the earliest. Those affected are being assisted by authorities. Reviewed the situation with Home Minister Amit Shah Ji and other officials.@AmitShah
Shah said all possibilities were being investigated with top agencies involved.
Pained beyond words by the loss of lives in a blast in Delhi. My deepest condolences to those who have lost their loved ones. Have visited the blast site and also met the injured in the hospital. My prayers for their quick recovery.
Top agencies are investigating the incident…
Israel’s ambassador also expressed his condolences.
Heartbreaking scenes in Delhi following the car blast resulting in so many dead and injured. Our deepest condolences to the families of the victims. Wishing speedy recovery to those who survived. Praise for the rescuers & security forces. 🇮🇱❤️🇮🇳
The embassy of Egypt likewise extended its condolences to the victims and their families.
On behalf of the People and Government of the Arab Republic of #Egypt, we extend our sincere condolences to the families and loved ones of those affected by the #RedFort blast. Our thoughts and prayers are with the bereaved, and we wish all injured a swift and complete recovery.
The United Kingdom issued a travel advisory after the explosion while the United States embassy in India released a security alert and extended its condolences.“Our sincere condolences to the families who lost their loved ones. We pray for the swift recovery of those injured,” the US government said.
India: On Nov. 10, a car exploded near the Lal Quila (Red Fort) metro station in central Delhi, India, with local media reporting multiple casualties. While the cause of the explosion is unknown at this time, the Government of India has placed several Indian states on high alert.… pic.twitter.com/4E44MxxIkT
Has Delhi faced attacks in the past?
Yes, Delhi has been the target of multiple bombings and attacks over the years – but not in more than a decade.
September 2011: Fifteen people were killed after a briefcase bomb exploded outside the Delhi High Court. The Pakistan-based armed group Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami claimed responsibility.
September 2008: The Indian capital was rocked by two sets of bombings. First, on September 13, five bombs ripped through crowded markets as people shopped for major festivals. The bombs killed 33 people. A group called the Indian Mujahideen claimed responsibility. Two weeks later, two more bombs exploded, killing three people.
October 2005: Three blasts across different parts of the city killed 70 people. Pakistan-based Lashkar e-Taiba claimed responsibility.
December 2001: Fighters from the Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed armed group attacked the Indian Parliament in a strike that brought the nuclear-armed neighbours to the brink of war. Thirteen people were killed.
December 2000: Three people were killed in an attack at the Red Fort by Lashkar-e-Taiba fighters.
Have other places in India faced major attacks?
Yes, Indian cities have been targets of major attacks by armed groups, often associated with Kashmir’s secessionist struggle. India has in most cases blamed Pakistan-based armed groups and Pakistan’s intelligence services for orchestrating these attacks.
These armed groups have in several cases claimed responsibility themselves, and in some cases, Indian authorities have captured suspects.
Here are some of the deadliest attacks in India outside Delhi.
November 2008, Mumbai: More than 170 people were killed and over 300 were injured in attacks carried out by Lashkar-e-Taiba. Indian authorities captured one of the perpetrators alive.
July 2008, Ahmedabad: Seventeen bombs exploded in different parts of the western Indian city, killing 56 people. Police blamed two armed groups.
May 2008, Jaipur: More than 70 people died in nine explosions in the capital of India’s western state of Rajasthan. Authorities blamed the Indian Mujahideen, a home-grown armed group.
February 2007, Haryana: Seventy people, mostly Pakistani civilians, died after bombs blew up the Samjhauta Express, which connected India and Pakistan. Authorities accused a far-right Hindu group, Abhinav Bharat, of carrying out the attack. But in 2019 under Modi’s Hindu majoritarian Bharatiya Janata Party’s rule, all the accused were acquitted.
September 2006, Malegaon: Explosions near a mosque in Malegaon, a city in the western state of Maharashtra, killed at least 45 people. Authorities blamed the Abhinav Bharat group, but all accused were later acquitted.
July 2006, Mumbai: More than 200 people were killed when a series of bombs exploded on multiple trains of the suburban rail network that millions of people use daily in India’s financial capital. Authorities blamed Lashkar-e-Taiba, but all Indian nationals who were arrested have now been acquitted.
March 1993, Mumbai: In the single deadliest attack in independent India’s history, multiple bombs exploded across the city, killing more than 250 people. Police blamed Indian fugitive gangster Dawood Ibrahim and his aides for the attack.
May 1991, Sriperumbudur: Former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi was blown up by a suicide bomber from the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam during a campaign rally. Fifteen people died.
A ‘do not cross line’ ribbon cordons off an area near the site of the explosion near the Red Fort [Associated Press]
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Dale Johnson
Football issues correspondent
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Imagine a world in which you could reinvent football.
It’s a dream, of course. Just a bit of fun. But stick with us.
What if you had the power to change any of the game’s laws and potentially bring to an end countless hours of discussion about handball, offside, video assistant referees, or anything else you want to?
In that spirit, we asked players, pundits and even referees what football could look like if we ripped up the rulebook and started afresh.
Think of it as a manifesto for reinventing the game so many of us love.
Penalties: Make the punishment fit the crime
Think here about that relatively innocuous trip as an attacker is moving away from goal – or a handball decision when there’s no immediate likelihood of a goal.
The result? A penalty – and a very high chance of a goal (historically, Opta says, 78%) when no such opportunity existed.
Is it fair, for example, that Brentford were given such a high chance of scoring when Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk tapped the boot of Dango Ouattara right on the edge of the 18-yard area last month?
Is a shot from 12 yards with only the goalkeeper to beat a just punishment?
We already define an obvious goalscoring opportunity for a red card, so we’d only have to tweak this to any kind of scoring chance for a penalty.
If it’s a foul with no clear attacking impact, why not a free-kick?
Penalties: One and done – no more rebounds
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Imagine when a penalty is saved or hits the woodwork and bounces back into play that the game is stopped and the ball given to the goalkeeper.
Pierluigi Collina – perhaps the most famous football referee of all time, and now head of Fifa’s referees’ committee – is already on board.
Collina argues that if the attacking team have squandered such a big chance of scoring, why should they be allowed a second or even third opportunity?
In recent campaigns an average of just under three goals a season have been scored in such circumstances, so is it really that important?
And would we want to risk losing some of the game’s most memorable moments?
Think Chloe Kelly’s 119th-minute goal for England against Italy in the semi-final of Euro 2025. Or Liverpool’s Xabi Alonso netting at the second attempt against AC Milan in their dramatic comeback in the second half of the 2005 Champions League final. Or Harry Kane’s winning goal for England against Denmark at Euro 2020.
VAR: Bring in a challenge system
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Will VAR ever be accepted? Perhaps not in its current form, so how about adapting it to a challenge system?
You might not have heard of Fifa’s Football Video Support (FVS), which is being trialled in several leagues including Liga F – the top flight of the women’s game in Spain.
Under FVS, a coach is given two challenges per game. When they are activated, the on-field referee goes to the monitor to watch the incident back and make a decision. There isn’t a VAR poring over the footage, just a replay operator to show the incident to the referee.
Everton and England goalkeeper Jordan Pickford likes the theory.
“With VAR involved, I’d do it like cricket,” Pickford said. “They’ve got two decisions and the captain has got to make sure they review at the right time, in so many seconds. I think that would keep the speed of the game up, and keep it flowing.”
Sound good? It has its merits. The assumption is there will be better final outcomes, though trials have shown that’s not always the case, and mistakes are still made by a referee at the screen.
Match of the Day presenter Gabby Logan thinks there’s a different way of doing it.
“It’s to have a time limit on VAR,” she said. “We all agree now it’s here to stay, and it often does good things, but the time it can take is tiresome. It stops the game. People get angry with it.
“If it was 90 seconds only, I think we’d sort a lot of that out because if it’s not clear and obvious in 90 seconds, it’s not clear and obvious.”
But for former England defender Stephen Warnock, the solution is simpler – get rid of VAR.
Reimagining Football
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VAR offsides: Lose the microscopic tech
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The concept of offside is very different from its first iteration in 1863 when – a little bit like rugby – you were offside if you were in front of the ball.
Three years after its introduction, the law changed to consider the position of the defenders closest to their own goal, and it hasn’t altered much since.
But the initial idea surely wasn’t that players should be penalised for having a toe in front of the ‘offside line’? After all, you only had the judgement of the assistant.
We’re told VAR tech is uber-reliable, but we’re in the hands of AI and a VAR who has to manually confirm a frame that might not be the exact point the ball has been played anyway. And how confusing can those animations be?
So, how about ditching the microscopic tech, and just relying on a TV picture with no lines or funky graphics and an official’s eye?
That’s how it’s done in Major League Soccer – largely because of problems with wildly differing stadium configurations.
The VAR looks at the images and decides if it’s possible the assistant has got the decision wrong. If so, the referee is sent to the monitor to look. In other words, MLS judges offside at the clear and obvious threshold and not to millimetres.
Would TV companies still draw their own lines? Probably, which would undoutedly mean the controversy around offside decisions would not dissipate.
Premier League referee Anthony Taylor had a more radical suggestion.
“One of the best tournaments I refereed in was a prison officer tournament and we had no offside… and we had so many goals it was unbelievable,” he said.
Handball: Make it like it used to be
If you asked a football fan to define handball a decade ago, you’d get a simple answer, like: “Ball to hand isn’t a penalty.”
Put that question to them today, and they probably wouldn’t know where to start.
Former England captain Alan Shearer pointed to some of the phraseology that has come into the football lexicon around handball as he called for change.
“Proximity… obvious position… not in an obvious position… natural,” he said. “For me, it’s pretty simple – is it deliberate handball or not?”
Some of the confusion has come from a big rewrite of the lawbook in 2019, when the considerations for handball went from just three lines to an entire page.
Referees were served with a whole menu of reasons to give handball.
The aim was to give a “clearer and more consistent definition and interpretation”. What it brought was consistently more penalties, because there were many more reasons to give one.
Stop the clock when the ball goes out
This idea has been kicking around for many years, with the intention that if the watch is stopped, teams can’t waste time.
The plan could be for each half to last 30 minutes, with the clock halted when the ball isn’t in play. That guarantees 60 minutes of effective playing time, and means much of the incentive to take vital seconds out of the match is removed.
Fans would actually gain rather than lose out, too, with the average ball-in-play time this season 55 minutes 05 seconds – 114 seconds down from last season.
It’s not a magic bullet, because teams who are looking to see out a lead – or hold on to a draw – could still go slowly to break up the momentum of the opposition.
Introduce tactical timeouts
For this, we turn to former Wales captain Ashley Williams.
“I would give each team at least one timeout per half, and you can use that whenever you want,” he said.
“It might be before a corner, before a free-kick, if someone’s injured. If the manager needs to get hold of their team and change something, I’d let them have a timeout like they do in other sports.”
The modern trend seems to be for teams to secure themselves an ‘unofficial’ tactical timeout by telling a goalkeeper to go down injured, though we should point out – for the avoidance of doubt – that sometimes goalkeeper injuries are genuine!
As the physio runs on, all of the outfield players head over to the technical area for a team talk. When the manager has passed on his key messages, the goalkeeper is often fine to play on.
This little interlude can change the direction of a game, and adversely impact the opposition. While they have the chance to speak to their manager too, it often is the case that they don’t need to change anything, so any team talk has less impact.
Would an allocated tactical timeout stop this? In some cases, but not all.
Bring in bonus points – and punish 0-0 draws
Arsene Wenger, when he was manager of Arsenal, often spoke about giving teams extra points to award attacking play.
It never caught on widely, though he did get his way in the pre-season Emirates Cup in the summer of 2009. There, clubs were awarded three points for a win plus an extra point for every goal scored.
Former Manchester City defender Nedum Onuoha is thinking along the same lines.
“I like the idea of a bonus point for every time you score two goals,” he said. “Instead of just getting three points, you score two goals and that’s four points. You score four goals, that’s five points.
“From an attacking perspective, you can really start to climb the ladder. You’ll see more goals in the league, which means fans would be more entertained.”
There’s another option.
Former Barcelona and Manchester United defender Gerard Pique flipped the logic earlier this year by suggesting teams should get zero points if a match ends 0-0.
Pique believes boring games would explode into life for the final 20 minutes because a 0-0 draw would give teams as many points as a 1-0 defeat.
Let players take quick free-kicks to themselves
Consider these two scenarios: a player is breaking forward and is brought down by a tactical foul, or a goalkeeper comes out of his area and boots the ball into the crowd.
Play often can’t restart instantly, because a team needs to set up. But what if a player could take a free-kick, throw-in or corner to themselves and run with the ball?
It might seem a little out there, but it would make the game faster and might even bring more goals.
Former England midfielder Danny Murphy said: “It’s your advantage, you’ve got the ball, so why do you have to pass it to somebody else so you can get the game going quickly?”
Make the goals bigger
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In 1996, former Fifa president Sepp Blatter wanted to increase the size of football goals by 50cm in width and 25cm in height, but didn’t have enough support.
Is it time to look again?
The size of the goals – 24ft wide and 8ft high – hasn’t changed in 150 years.
But the average height of people has increased in that time, which would suggest goalkeepers are now at an advantage.
There are two sides to this, though.
In 1875, footballs were made of hand-stitched leather, often weighed down by the rain. Today they are lightweight and made of synthetic leather and designed to aid movement through the air.
