Penalty shootouts could change forever as ex-Arsenal chief contacts Fifa with plan for huge new rule

DAVID DEIN is leading a drive for a penalty shootout revolution.

The former Arsenal and FA vice-chairman wants players to take spot-kicks at BOTH ends — in front of their own fans.

Reuters

Arsenal icon David Dein campaigning for major penalty shootout reform[/caption]

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Dein believes teams should take pens in front of their own fans as well as rival supporters[/caption]

Dein said: “My plan is so simple I don’t understand why it’s never been done.

“I keep hearing the word ‘tradition’ and, ‘it’s always been done like this’.

“Well, 100 years ago buses were drawn by horses and that was ‘tradition’. This is progress.”

Dein, 80, says the idea sprung from Arsenal’s penalty shootout defeat to Galatasaray in the 2000 Uefa Cup final under Arsene Wenger.

The end at which penalties are taken after tied matches is currently decided by a coin toss — but it means one side will always be disadvantaged.

Writing in a new paperback chapter of his autobiography, he said: “We had to take our penalties at the Galatasaray end.

“So we had 20,000 Turkish fans gesticulating as our boys were taking the penalties, whistling and booing.

“Davor Suker missed, Ray Parlour managed to hold his nerve but then Patrick Vieira missed and we lost 4-1 on penalties.

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GETTY

Arsenal’s Uefa Cup final shootout defeat to Galatasaray was the catalyst for Dein’s push for pen reform[/caption]

“The more I watched shootouts, the more I felt it was unfair on the team who have to take their kicks in front of the opposing fans.”

Dein claims progressive “allies” within the Dutch FA want to champion the penalty shootout idea in their FA Cup competition.

He has passed on his proposals to PGMOL chairman Mike Foster and refs’ boss Howard Webb.

Influential power-broker Dein has also held talks with Fifa chief Gianni Infantino.

Calling the Shots: How to Win in Football and Life by David Dein is out now in paperback (£12.99, Constable).

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David Dein’s book ‘Calling the Shots’ is available now[/caption]