FIFA chief blasts penalty shoot-outs

FIFA president Sepp Blatter on Friday described having penalties to determine the outcome of games as a “tragedy” that ripped the heart out of the game.
“Football can be a tragedy when you go to penalty kicks,” he told delegates at the world governing body’s annual congress in Budapest. “Football should not go to one-to-one. When it goes to penalty kicks, football loses its essence.”
The winners of two major tournaments last season were determined from the penalty spot: the Champions League, where Chelsea beat Bayern Munich 4-3, and the African Cup of Nations, which saw Zambia beat Ivory Coast 8-7.
Blatter challenged Franz Beckenbauer and his Task Force 2014 working group to come up with a solution to the issue.