Gerard Piqué has an idea to bring an end to 0-0 draws and it's actually really good

"It's not okay to spend 50, 90 euros to go to the stadium and it ends 0-0", says Piqué.
Text: Javier Escribano
Published 2025-02-27

Gerard Piqué, the former footballer for FC Barcelona, who retired from football in 2022, is still very active as a businessman, being the man responsible for the Kings League, a football competition for YouTubers in Spain.

Speaking on the podcast "Bajo Palos" with his teammate from Spanish National Team - and rival from Real Madrid - Iker Casillas, Piqué threw an idea to end with 0-0 draws, the most frustrating result from a fan's viewpoint. "It's not okay that you go to the stadium and spend, I don't know, 70, 50, 90 euros in a ticket, to a Champions League game, and it ends 0-0. There should be something to prevent that from happening".

"Stupid proposition, to consider: if you finish 0-0, both teams get zero points. What would happen? In the 70th minute, the match would be wide open".

In football, a victory is usually 3 points, a defeat 0, and a draw it's 1 point for everyone. With Piqué's proposition, a goalless match would reward no points for either team, motivating teams to take more risks and play better football. Or more entertaining football, at least.

<social>https://x.com/marca/status/1895052891200618729</social>

<social>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1zX4BJDAJsc</social>

A rule change like that is not out of the question. In 1981, English league was the first to make victories provide 3 points instead of 2, which was the rule up until that point everywhere, with the same goal: encouraging offensive play. This was adopted by FIFA in 1995 and most countries during the 1990s, to positive effect.

Right now, the makers of football rules - IFAB - are busy thinking on other possible rule changes, some as drastic as being much more flexible with offside to benefit a more offensive style of play, as well as allowing coaches to "challenge" some refereeing decisions, like in basketball. They have a meeting this weekend, so Piqué's idea will have to wait to some other time...

Back