From this summer onwards, goalkeepers will be allowed eight seconds from catching the ball to releasing it, in the latest attempt to cut down on time-wasting.
Positive results in trials across England, Italy and Malta have prompted the games rule-makers, the International Football Association Board (Ifab), to change the law for the start of the 2025-26 season.
This rule will be implemented worldwide by 1 July, at all levels of the game from elite to amateur.
It will also be in place for the Club World Cup, which runs from 15 June to 13 July.
Referees will punish goalkeepers holding on to the ball for more than eight seconds by awarding a corner to the opposition.
Goalkeepers will be warned by the referee when they have five seconds remaining to get rid of the ball. The referee will raise their arm and start a visual countdown with their hand.
Was this not the rule already?
Yes. Well, kind of, as it was rarely enforced. The current law states if a goalkeeper holds on to a ball for six seconds, then an indirect free-kick is awarded to the opposition.
During trials, Ifab said there had only been four instances where goalkeepers have been penalised in hundreds of matches, even with the rule being strictly applied.
Ifab technical director and former Premier League referee David Elleray told The Times: “Good law changes are where you have a very strong deterrent which everybody implements and then the problem effectively disappears.
“If it speeds up the game, if it’s more positive, it means that it could be one of those very effective deterrents.”
The Club World Cup features Manchester City and Chelsea, so Premier League fans will be able to see how Ederson, Stefan Ortega, Robert Sanchez or Filip Jorgensen cope with that countdown for the first time.
