The Economist.
Hi there, it's Jason Palmer here, co-host of The Intelligence, our daily news and current affairs podcast.
This is Editor's Picks.
You're about to hear an article from the latest edition of The Economist, read aloud.
Enjoy.
Football is the beautiful game.
But it's often also the boring game.
The World Cup, which starts on June 11th, is being hosted by America, Canada and Mexico,
the international equivalent of going to a dinner party and hearing the hosts rowing in the kitchen.
The tournament will feature 48 teams playing 104 matches over the course of six and a half weeks.
Although watching matches that feature your own nation is dependably exciting,
for neutrals the average game is likely to be pretty drab.
The stakes at a World Cup are too high for players
to take big risks and hanging on for a draw often pays off for less fancied teams.
Ideas are already circulating for making football more fun.
Arsene Venger, a manager whose credentials include making Arsenal bearable to watch,
has proposed changes such as tweaking the offside rule and turning throw-ins into kick-ins.
But these ideas are not radical enough.
The Economist would like to propose the following changes, so that the world game is one that the world thrills to.
If a team hits one of the posts or the crossbar three times, that will count as a goal.