Football’s lawmakers attempts to combat timewasting will subject substitutions, throw-ins and goal-kicks to time limits from this summer.
There are also changes to expand the scope of the sport’s video assistant referee (VAR) system, which will now be permitted to check and review red cards ‘arising from a clearly incorrect second yellow card’, cases of ‘mistaken identity’ when a yellow or red card are shown, and cases of a ‘clearly incorrectly awarded corner kick’.
The International Football Association Board (IFAB) met for their annual general meeting near Cardiff on Saturday and ratified changes to the laws ahead of the World Cup beginning in June.
Throw-ins and goal kicks will be given a five-second countdown by a referee who considers there to be a deliberate delay. Throw-ins will be reversed and goal kicks will become corners if a player is deemed to have taken longer than the allotted time.
Substitutions must also be completed within 10 seconds under an amended law. Failure for a withdrawn player to leave the pitch in that time will result in his replacement not being able to come until the next stoppage in play after a one-minute period, leaving that team at a temporary numerical disadvantage.
IFAB’s law changes will come into force from July 1 but any tournament beginning before that date, including the World Cup, will be able to adopt the new approaches.
The latest changes come 12 months after IFAB introduced an eight-second limit for goalkeepers holding the ball, with a corner awarded to the opponent should that be breached.
That has widely been considered a deterrent since it was first seen at last summer’s Club World Cup and it is hoped widening the scope to throw-ins and goal-kicks will have a similar impact.
Throw-ins, in particular, have become a growing irritant at a time when greater empahsis has been placed on their effectiveness in attacking areas. Long throws can often bring a disruption of more than 30 seconds.
As with the amendments introduced for this season, a referee will raise his hand to visually signify a countdown from five.
A further step to address lost time will be players needing to remain off the pitch for one minute following an injury. There will be exceptions, such as goalkeeper injuries and injuries caused by fouls that result in a card being shown, but any player that requires physio treatment will have to stay on the sidelines for 60 seconds.
FIFA staged its own trials at the 2025 Arab Cup in Qatar where a player would remain off the pitch for two minutes, mirroring the approach taken by Major League Soccer (MLS).
The Premier League has opted for a 30-second period when a player is told to stay off the pitch since the start of the 2024-25 season and will be allowed to retain that approach.
IFAB’s AGM at Hensol Castle, attended by FIFA president Gianni Infantino, also amended rules around VAR. Incorrectly awarded second yellow cards, leading to a player’s dismissal, can now be overturned, while corners wrongly given can also be reversed if there is clear and immediate evidence available to the VAR.