Football’s rule-makers have approved a package of changes at their annual general meeting in Wales on Saturday, with the 2026 World Cup set to be the first major tournament to adopt them.
The eight-second rule for goalkeepers, which came in last summer and has been largely seen as a success, was the starting point for all of this. IFAB looked at what worked and decided to go further.
The Athletic reports that referees can now trigger a visible five-second countdown for throw-ins and goal-kicks too, if they judge a player to be deliberately wasting time.
A throw-in not taken in time will be handed to the other team, a delayed goal-kick becomes a corner, and substitutions must also be completed within ten seconds of the board going up.
Any outfield player who goes down and needs treatment on the pitch has to spend at least a minute off the field before returning.
According to the report, VAR has been given a wider remit as well. It can now step in when a second yellow card is clearly wrong, correct cases where a card has been shown to the wrong player, and flag corner kicks that were incorrectly awarded.
These were all blind spots in the system before Saturday. IFAB chief Noel Mooney, speaking in an earlier report by The Sun, talked about the idea behind all of it.
“The theme now is very much about improving the tempo of the game and reducing time-wasting,” he said.
“We want fans to get an even better experience.”
The changes take effect on July 1, but FIFA can adopt them earlier for the World Cup, which kicks off on June 11.
