UEFA is to "test a new penalty shootout system" at the men's and women's European U17 Championship tournaments which take place this month, according to ESPN.com. The new system, which is "similar to a tennis tiebreak" and has been referred to by some as "ABBA," is designed to "reduce the potential advantage that the team taking a first penalty in a shootout currently may have." Rather than the current process, which sees teams taking penalties automatically following each other in a sequence of pairs, the new system will see the side taking the first penalty alternate. Team A will take the first spot kick with Team B taking the first penalty for the second and third kicks before Team A then takes the first kick for the fourth effort. The sequence then repeats itself for the final penalty and subsequent kicks that are required if the shootout goes into "sudden death." The referee will toss a coin to decide "which end of the pitch the shootout will take place," before tossing again to "dictate which team takes the first or second penalty" (ESPN.com, 5/3). REUTERS' Brian Homewood reported the Int'l FA Board, which approved trials of the new system in March, said that research proved the team taking the first penalty has a 60% chance of winning, giving it an "unfair advantage." UEFA said, "The hypothesis is that the player taking the second kick in the pair is under greater mental pressure. If the opposition's first penalty in the pair has been successful, a miss by the second penalty-taker in the pair could mean the immediate loss of a match for his team, especially from the fourth pair of penalties onwards" (REUTERS, 5/3).
