The Premier League is poised for a change in the rules around injured players being forced to leave the pitch, with football’s law makers, Ifab, ready to implement new guidance
Manchester United were furious after conceding a goal while Matthijs de Ligt was off getting treatment(Image: James Gill/Getty Images)
Injured players could be forced to stay off the pitch for a minute under new rules expected to be given the green light by FIFA. The International Football Association Board (Ifab) will meet on Saturday to rubber-stamp new laws, with the rules around injuries one of those on the agenda.
Currently there are no fixed rules mandated by FIFA to individual leagues around how long players should be kept off the field after receiving treatment. The Premier League has adopted a 30-second break since 2023/24, with players forced to wait before being allowed to re-enter the pitch.
The idea is to reduce attempted time-wasting through feigning injury and improve the flow of the game by limiting interruptions. However, like all rules, it has not been without controversy, with other issues arising over the past few years.
Ifab will meet at their annual general meeting this weekend to discuss the problem after FIFA trialled a two-minute rule at the Arab Cup in December. Referees’ chief Pierluigi Collina is in favour of the lengthy break for injured players, but there has unsurprisingly been pushback.
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BBC Sport says that a one-minute rule is the most likely compromise between the two camps, even though that is bound to cause irritation too. It follows the last Ifab meeting in January when the board could not agree on the length of time players should be on the sidelines for.
The topic is a minefield for the authorities given the myriad number of factors at play. The rules could end up unfairly penalising genuinely injured players, with the opposing team scoring while against 10 players for that minute.
Manchester United were left furious back in October 2024 when Matthijs de Ligt was off the pitch when Brentford scored to go 1-0 up in a Premier League game. De Ligt had suffered a head injury in a collision with Kevin Schade and was ordered off the pitch on three separate occasions to get his bleeding wound seen to.
Matthijs de Ligt was forced off the pitch and Brentford then scored(Image: James Gill – Danehouse/Getty Images)
Brentford scored from a corner while United’s centre-back was absent, prompting angry remonstrations from manager Erik ten Hag and assistant Ruud van Nistelrooy, who were both booked by referee Sam Barrott.
“Of course, there was a huge moment, because Brentford are very good in corners, and when you then miss one of your best headers, and they take benefit from it, then of course you are disappointed,” Ten Hag explained after the match, which United went on to win 2-1 at Old Trafford.
The issue of time-wasting through injuries was thrust into the spotlight in January when Gabriel Martinelli provoked a furious reaction when trying to move an injured Conor Bradley off the pitch. Martinelli believed his opponent was trying to slow the game down at 0-0 late on and did not realise the Liverpool defender was genuinely hurt by the sidelines.
Gabriel Martinelli tried to push Conor Bradley off the pitch because he thought he was timewasting (Image: Javier Garcia/Shutterstock)
The Arsenal forward’s actions sparked a melee and later saw him apologise to Bradley, who needed a stretcher to be taken off the pitch after an awkward landing. The words of Liverpool boss Arne Slot after the game summed up the general issue Ifab are grappling with.
He said: “I think the problem for him – and it’s a problem in general in football – is that there is so much time-wasting and players pretending that they are injured in the final parts of the game and during the game, that you can sometimes be annoyed if you want to try to score a goal that you think the player is time-wasting. You cannot ask Martinelli to think so clear in the 94th minute.”
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