RANDOM REMINDER

Press, Volume CI, Issue 29728, 23 January 1962, Page 20

RANDOM REMINDER

PENALTY ARIAS

New Zealand sportsmen do not usually look to hot-headed continentals to show them how to manage their affairs. But Italian soccer players work under a penal system which might do much for Rugby football if introduced in New Zealand. In Italy, a soccer player guilty of swearing is fined £ 11. If he restricts himself to a single swear word, he gets away with a fine of £3. Then there is a rule which covers the arrogant player who. on disagreeing with a ruling,

taps his head and looks at the referee. That piece of impudence costs £9. A player who raises both arms to the sky as if imploring divine justice is fined £6. The severe beauty of mathematics is shown by the fine of £3 for one arm being raised for the same purpose. Of course, mistakes might be made. A player might be fined £3 just because he wanted to leave the fieid. But in general, it is a system which would have its value in New Zealand.

A few additions would have to be made of course—the Italian scale makes no reference to biting, elbow-jolting, or questioning the ancestry of an opponent. Provided the money collected in fines were put to good use, the game in New Zealand would benefit immensely. It would probably take no more than two or three years with the scheme in operation for the provision of that new double-decker stand at Lancaster Park—with easy chairs for every patron.