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Football’s new VAR rules that will end time wasting but upset fans | Football
If there’s one thing all football fans can agree on, as we trundle through match after match of grappling and time-wasting, it’s that what we actually need are more rules.
That’s what the International Football Association Board have decided, anyway.
In an era of official club complaints, anger in the stands and frustration from players and managers alike, football’s lawmakers are introducing new rules to combat time wasting and give more power to VAR.
The rules will come into effect from July 1 across football, but also be in place for the start of this summer’s World Cup in the USA, Mexico and Canada in June.
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What changes are being made to stop time wasting?
After the relative success of this year’s new rule giving goalkeepers eight seconds to release the ball, throw-ins and goal kicks will now also have five second countdowns if the referee thinks a player is time wasting.
There is one difference between the new rules and the goalkeeper countdown, as a referee will only start one when they feel a player is time wasting, instead of immediately as is the case with goalkeepers.
The other change means anyone substituted will now have 10 seconds to get off the pitch – if they don’t the referee can delay their replacement coming on until the next stoppage in play.
How is VAR changing?
The new rules mean VAR will now be able to intervene in red cards that have resulted from an incorrect second yellow and corners that shouldn’t have been given.
Again, reasonable on paper, but do we really want to introduce more stoppages and opportunities for VAR to upset everyone with inconsistencies? Surely that’s what we should be avoiding.
But what do we fans know, after all? We’re not the experts, and a problem like this needs the best minds in football. Step up Pierluigi Collina – one of the most recognisable referees of all time and surely a credible voice of reason on issues like VAR and why nobody seems to like it.
‘In Italy, we say that in every wonderful marriage, there is a crisis after seven years,’ said the 2002 World Cup final referee. ‘So it might be possible that people fell in love with VAR, and then after some years, as with your wife, you have a small crisis.’
Sorry Pierluigi, this one feels more like an arranged marriage doomed for failure from day one.
Full list of football’s rule changes
These are the new rules that will come into effect ahead of the 2026 World Cup.
Throw-ins and goal kicks
If the referee considers that a throw-in or goal kick is taking too long or being deliberately delayed, a five-second visual countdown will be initiated. If the ball is not in play at the end of the countdown, the throw-in will be awarded to the opposing team while a delayed goal kick will result in a corner kick being awarded to the opponents.
Time-limited substitutions
Substituted players must leave the field of play within ten seconds of the substitution board being displayed or, where there is no substitution board, of the referee’s signal. Should the player fail to leave within this time, they must still exit the field but the substitute will not be permitted to enter until the first stoppage after one minute (running clock) has elapsed following the restart.
Off-field treatment and assessment
Any time a player receives on-field assessment for an injury, or their injury causes play to be stopped, they will be required to leave the field of play and remain off it for one minute once play has restarted.
Video assistant referees
VAR will now be permitted to assist the referee in relation to:
- Red cards arising from a clearly incorrect second yellow card
- Mistaken identity, when the referee penalises the wrong team for an offence that results in a red or yellow card being shown to the wrong player
- A clearly incorrectly awarded corner kick, provided that the review can be completed immediately and without delaying the restart
What about Arsene Wenger? Surely one of football’s best thinkers has some sort of solution for us… How about a change in the offside law?
The former Arsenal boss has proposed a ‘daylight’ rule, meaning that an attacker is only offside if there is a gap between them and the last line of defence.
It’s a move that brings the law back towards giving the attacker the benefit of the doubt, but the issue is that light is famously good at getting through even the smallest of cracks. In reality, it will just lead to the lines being drawn in a different place.
This change has been granted a trial in Canada, so it could be a while before it comes into effect across the world. However, Wenger has been pushing for the change since joining Fifa in 2019, so we can expect any success in the trial to please him.
The obvious solution here is to get rid of the whole thing. Sure, before VAR we all argued over refereeing decisions but at least we could celebrate goals and get home on time.
Football is supposed to be a simple game – adding more rules will just add to the feeling that a team now needs to apply for planning permission to score.
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