Fifa stand by 'Golden Goal'

Fifa will keep the 'Golden Goal' rule for next year's World Cup and beyond despite moves to scrap it from competitions in Europe.

The rule, where the team who scores first in extra-time immediately wins the match, has decided the finals of the last two European Championships but it may be replaced for next season's Champions League final and Euro 2004.

The move to scrap the Golden Goal is being urged by leading technical advisors to Uefa, European football's governing body, including Liverpool boss Gerard Houllier, former Blackburn and Inter Milan manager Roy Hodgson and former Scotland manager Andy Roxburgh.

They claim the rule puts too much pressure on referees, that the team who concede the goal should be given a chance to fight back, and that it can lead to conflict between players and crowd unrest.

The move to replace it will now be discussed by Uefa's Technical Committee, who will then recommend a course of action to the Uefa executive.

But the criticisms are not reflected by world governing body Fifa, whose communications director Keith Cooper said: "We have no plans to change it.

"It is perfectly clear there is no ideal solution to this problem, but what's the alternative - is a penalty shootout really better than that?"

David Trezeguet's memorable extra-time strike won Euro 2000 for France against Italy in the final, but it was their semi-final victory over Portugal - when Zinedine Zidane's penalty settled the match - and Germany's 1996 victory over the Czech Republic which has led to Uefa's change of heart.

The criticisms are contained in Uefa's Euro 2000 Technical Report, while the team also called for penalties in the knockout phases of competitions to be held after 90 minutes instead of after extra-time to prevent player exhaustion.

The report says: "In 1996 the winning goal was controversial and the game finished in mayhem - the German substitutes were on the field celebrating while the referee discussed the contentious offside situation with his touchline assistant.

"During Euro 2000, the semi-final between France and Portugal ended in an unsavoury manner. When players and officials became embroiled in a heated exchange, it took the shine off a thrilling match.

"If the Portuguese could have re-started the game, the situation would almost certainly have been different - play rather than pandemonium."

A Uefa spokesman said that the Golden Goal rule would be kept for the finals of this season's Champions League and Uefa Cup.

He added: "If there is a will to change, there could be an arrangement next season which means that the 2001-2002 competitions could be played with the old rule or with another rule."

The Uefa technical team who compiled the report was made up of technical director Roxburgh, Houllier, and former national coaches Anghel Iordanescu (Romania), Rinus Michels (Holland), and Berti Vogts (Germany).