LONDON (AP) " Soccer's lawmakers are looking to make penalty shootouts even more unpredictable by adopting the format used for tiebreakers in tennis. Teams currently alternate in shootouts, but the International Football Association Board says research shows the first team taking kicks has a 60 percent chance of winning. IFAB is seeking trials in the lower-levels of soccer with a new pattern that would see the order mixed up between teams A and B to ABBAABBAAB. Live experiments are taking place in around 20 competitions this year, including the Confederations Cup in Russia which serves as the 2018 World Cup test event. English Football Association chief executive Martin Glenn, who hosted the meeting, said IFAB should be the "football promotion organization, not the football prevention organization."

Source: New Zealand Herald March 03, 2017 17:44 UTC