Bundesliga's pre-match 'handshake dialogue' rule is not a hit with everyone

A new Bundesliga rule that calls for a meeting with the refereeing team and both captains and coaches before every league match has not been universally well received, with World Cup winner Toni Kroos saying it would have no real impact.

The rule, which is called a handshake dialogue, came into effect at the start of the league season last week, obliging captains and coaches to meet the referees as a group 70 minutes before kickoff.

"This has absolutely no effect," Kroos, who retired last year after a highly successful career with Bayern Munich and Real Madrid, said in a podcast.

The 2014 World Cup winner with Germany said the rule would do little in terms of controlling emotions.

"You in the midst of preparing. Now we will say how much we like each other and by the fifth minute there is no handshake anymore, just a yellow card," he said.

Cologne coach Lukas Kwasniok went further.

"This is all nonsense," he said. "Seventy minutes before the game no one is in the mood for something like that," Kwasniok told a press conference. "Apart from interrupting preparations not much else is happening there."

The DFL said in July when it introduced the rule that the meeting was intended to improve standards of fair play.

"In the spirit of fair play, this meeting serves as an opportunity for mutual exchange and respectful interaction between all those involved in the game. The meeting will take place 70 minutes before kickoff in the referees' dressing room," the DFL said.