Against the backdrop of a truly abysmal England performance (more on that when I’ve calmed down) we’ve been alerted to the fact that the McDonalds/FIFA game has been the subject of yet another rule change.
Having altered the rules on the eve of the Finals, again it’s the bonus points at the heart of it with attacking bonus undergoing a shift from a point awarded for “every 2 balls delivered into the penalty area” to a point “for every 2 solo runs”. These solo runs are then defined as the “sum of solo run in attacking third, solo run in key play and solo run in penalty area”. Confused? Yes us too…
It’s not yet clear whether this rule change will kick in from tonight and if the rules will be applied retrospectively to the matches already played in this round. In addition of course, this completely rules out crosses and passes into the box as a route to earning bonus points. That will surely affect a lot of players who have previously earned bonus for their delivery into the box.
Quite why the rules needed to be tweaked again is a complete mystery. When you consider that the likes of Lionel Messi had already earned a heavy slice of bonus points via his dribbling ability, I’m struggling to see why the organisers felt that solo runs were not a big enough factor. All through the tournament we’ve notice discrepancies between FIFA’s official statistics and the eventual bonus points awarded. Perhaps they’ve simplified the scoring as a result?
Right now we can’t get answers but we will be contact ISM Ltd in the hope of shedding some light on a matter which threatens to turn the McDonalds/FIFA game into a farce. That may seem harsh but after that England performance, I’m in no mood.