A five-second countdown for throw-ins and goal kicks will be introduced at this summer’s FIFA World Cup, as soccer’s lawmakers prepare to introduce a raft of measures to speed up play.
Following the success of this season’s eight-second rule, which penalizes goalkeepers for not releasing the ball or conceding corners, the International Football Association Board (IFAB) has been encouraged to address other methods used to disrupt the tempo of the game.
The IFAB is expected to approve a series of legal changes at its annual general meeting in Wales on Saturday, including giving referees permission to start a five-second countdown if they think a player is taking too long during a throw-in or goal-kick.
Presumably, if the referee feels that there is a deliberate attempt to delay the restart, he will give the signal by blowing the whistle and start a five-second countdown with his hand. If the throw-in takes more than 5 seconds, the throw-in will be canceled and the goal kick will be intentionally delayed resulting in a corner being awarded.
The changes agreed on Saturday will officially become part of the competition’s rules from July 1, but could also be adopted by tournaments such as the upcoming World Cup.
IFAB is also considering increasing the substitution window to 10 seconds. A team that exceeds this limit will be prohibited from bringing on its substitute and will therefore be without a player for at least one minute.
The IFAB will also set a match-wide limit of one minute, applicable in all competitions, for players to leave the pitch if play is interrupted due to injury.
Different limits have been tested in different competitions, from 30 seconds in the Premier League to the original three minutes in MLS, but IFAB plans to introduce a unified approach.
The aim of all the measures that will be adopted is to contribute not only to maintaining the tempo of matches, but also to reducing the time required for stoppage extensions, which is problematic from a player welfare perspective for supporters and broadcasters.
Goalkeeper injuries will continue to be exempted from the changes, but it is understood that the IFAB may in future propose a test where outfield players must be sent off if a goalkeeper is forced to stop play due to an injury.
In some cases, there are concerns that teams are manipulating rules regarding goaltending to disrupt play, discuss tactics and generally regroup teams.
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The World Cup is also set to be the first competition to take advantage of the VAR changes that are likely to be agreed on Saturday.
One is to give competitions the option of using VAR to check corner awards, allowing them to fix these immediately and not delay the restart. The Senators are adamant about avoiding delays, so if a corner kick is taken quickly and the check is not completed, play must continue and there can be no callbacks.
This protocol will also be extended to allow VAR to check red cards caused by a second yellow card, and advise the referee to review the second warning if it is clearly wrong. It is also proposed to allow VAR to intervene if the wrong team is given a red or yellow card.
The Press Association understands that a trial of “daylight” offside rule changes advocated by former Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger will not take place in the Canadian Premier League, as was suggested at the IFAB annual business conference in London last month.
The IFAB will discuss the ongoing ‘daylight’ test, which is understood to be limited in nature, and whether it will also test a ‘daylight’ offside modification, which is determined by whether an attacker’s torso is in front of the penultimate defender.
