Rule change for goalies

It can only help us if it speeds up the game


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.

Where does this apply?
This rule will be implemented worldwide by 1 July, at all levels of the game from elite to *.

It will also be in place for the Club World Cup, which runs from 15 June to 13 July.

How will referees punish it?
Referees will punish goalkeepers holding on to the ball for more than eight seconds by awarding a corner to the opposition.

How will referees indicate it?
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.

Wasn't this already a rule?
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.

What has Ifab said about the rule change?
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."

 

That countdown start from catching the ball and landing on the ground? Or when you stand up?

 

Does bouncing the ball restart the clock? Or rolling it and picking it up again? Or is it until you play the ball to another player?

 

Sounds like the old once you are upright/in control of the ball 6 second rule..
That's when keepers would drop the ball to kick it. Can't pick it up after yove held it.

I don't see much of a change here barring refs getting told to enforce the change better

 

The corner part is new... Not sure it's an improvement though, so much as a sidewards shift...

 

You know this is just going to be used when the refs want it. You'll still get the time wasting and usual dodgy timing.