How football can learn from other sports: the Gaelic Athletic Association on dissent
The Irish game Gaelic football has strict rules that punish the whole team when its players or coaches dispute decisions publicly
Many of football’s laws suffer from the same problem: they punish the individual rather than the team. As a result, players are coached and sometimes encouraged to commit a host of offences deliberately because the resultant yellow card – or even a red – is a price worth paying.
Among the examples is dissent by word or action. The laws of the game stipulate that any such comments or gestures should be punished with a yellow card, and that offensive language or gestures should lead to a dismissal.
But the culture of the sport and the expectations of the clubs are different, and referees who tried enforcing these rules strictly would not progress far in their careers.
As a result, the game suffers from a significant image problem. Among the main reasons fans of other sports say they will not watch football is the behaviour and attitude of players towards officials.
At the highest level, there is little disincentive for players to put officials under pressure by surrounding them. One of the horde might be shown a yellow card, but the team will hope this will be repaid as the referee will feel obliged – even sub-consciously – to redress their sense of injustice later in the match.
Premier League referees always report such surrounding incidents, but the letters written and fines administered by the Football Association seem only to make a marginal difference. Further, any punishment is after the event, the impact is diminished, and the team may consider their actions worthwhile anyway.
So, what are the options? There are often calls for football to follow rugby union and march a team back ten metres when a player questions a call, but there is much less emphasis on territory in soccer.
The law was tried from 2001-2005 in England but was dropped by FIFA to the dismay of Keith Hackett, the then head of Professional Game Match Officials.
‘It is a disappointing decision because, while the law was not used a lot, it did have an impact on the behaviour of players,’ Hackett told the BBC.
He said English referees found the law acted as a deterrent, but added: ‘The problem, as I understand it, is the countries who do not have any familiarity with the concept couldn’t get their heads around the process.’
Even if the law was re-introduced, it would still leave unresolved the other major contribution to the game’s poor image: the behaviour of team coaches and substitutes in the technical area. In recent seasons, referees have been able to give coaches a yellow card or send them back to the changing room, but this has had precious little impact on the standard of behaviour.
The Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) faced the same problems in Gaelic football. The game has much in common with soccer, with territory of less importance than in rugby, where ten metres is almost always significant.
When the GAA conducted a survey of fans, players, coaches and the public, dissent emerged as central issue, as it was seen to hinder the flow and fairness of matches.
After a review of the findings, dramatic changes were made that have transformed player behaviour. They include:
1. A 50-metre penalty for dissent – the ball is advanced into a potential scoring area when a player disputes a decision.
2. An attacking free kick when a team official shows dissent – a free-kick is awarded 20 metres from goal.
3. Only the captain can engage with the referee about a decision – once a call is made, the other players must stand aside.
4. Ten minutes in a sin bin if a player escalates a melee – mass confrontations become much less likely if there’s a disincentive to join in.
All these laws seem simple, easy to understand and have clear consequences for the player – and, crucially, their team.
Will FIFA follow suit? Football suffers from a superiority complex, rarely looking at the experience of other sports and learning from their developments, so it seems unlikely. But the game would benefit if its governing body took dissent more seriously.
Related content
Is anything being done about poor player behaviour? | BBC Sport | 13 November 2025
Foul Play No More – A Review of the Rules on Dissent in Gaelic Football | The Bar of Ireland | 19 March 2025
Fifa scraps ten-yard dissent rule | BBC Sport | 1 July 2005