# Premier League Targets Hair Pulling and Set-Piece Grappling in Crackdown on Defensive Dark Arts
The Premier League has decided enough is enough with some of the more unsavoury defensive tactics that have become all too common in our top flight. Bosses are pushing for stricter enforcement against hair pulling and set-piece grappling, two mucky habits that have blighted matches week in, week out. It’s a move that should warm the hearts of attacking players everywhere, who’ve been left frustrated watching defenders get away with handbags in the box without so much as a yellow card. The league’s rulebook review is clearly targeting the kind of cynical play that makes Sunday’s oatings feel more like a WWE wrestling match than proper football.
Set-piece scrapping has become an absolute nightmare for referees and VAR teams to manage, with players wrestling like they’re competing for a spot on Love Island rather than trying to defend a corner kick. Hair pulling takes it to another level of unpleasantness – it’s simply not what we want to see gracing our television screens at 3pm on a Saturday. By cracking down on these specific offences, the Premier League is sending a clear message that the beautiful game needs to stay beautiful, and that defenders will no longer have free reign to engage in handbags disguised as legitimate defensive play.
This rules review couldn’t come at a better time for the Premier League’s global image, as these kinds of antics are regularly highlighted on social media and paint English football in a less than flattering light. Fans, pundits, and players alike have been calling for firmer action, and it appears the league has finally listened to the outcry. Whether these new measures will actually be properly enforced remains to be seen, but at least the intention is there to clean up the game and ensure that technical ability, rather than brute force and gamesmanship, decides matches.
