Football's international lawmakers are poised to introduce significant measures aimed at accelerating play, with five-second countdowns for throw-ins and goal kicks potentially debuting at this summer's World Cup.
The International Football Association Board (IFAB) is set to approve these changes, building on the success of the eight-second rule for goalkeepers, in a concerted effort to curb persistent time-wasting tactics that disrupt match tempo.
The IFAB, convening for its annual general meeting in Wales this Saturday, will grant referees authority to initiate a five-second countdown whenever players are perceived to be deliberately delaying a throw-in or a placed goal kick.
This protocol would involve a whistle, a clear signal, and a hand countdown. Exceeding this limit for a throw-in would reverse possession, while a deliberate delay in a goal kick would result in a corner for the opposition.
Changes agreed this Saturday would officially become part of the Laws of the Game from 1 July.
However, competitions like the World Cup, commencing just before, could adopt them sooner.
Further proposals include a 10-second limit on substitutions. Teams exceeding this limit would face a penalty: the substitute barred from entering the pitch, forcing the team to play with ten men for at least one minute.
The IFAB is also expected to establish a game-wide limit of one minute for players to remain off the pitch after an injury stoppage.
This aims to unify approaches, as different competitions have tested varied limits, from 30 seconds in the Premier League to an initial three minutes in Major League Soccer.
The overarching goal of these measures is to maintain game tempo and reduce added time, addressing concerns around player welfare, supporter engagement, and broadcasters' schedules.
Goalkeeper injuries are set to remain exempt from these new time-related changes.
However, the IFAB could propose future trials whereby an outfield player would also have to come off the pitch if a goalkeeper's injury forces play to be stopped. This stems from concerns that teams manipulate rules around goalkeeper injuries to disrupt flow, discuss tactics, and regroup.
The upcoming World Cup is also anticipated to be the first major competition to benefit from several proposed VAR changes, likely agreed this Saturday.
One alteration will give competitions the option to use VAR to check corner awards. This is only permissible where decisions can be quickly rectified without delaying the restart.
Lawmakers are adamant on avoiding delays, stipulating that if a corner is taken quickly and a VAR check is incomplete, play must continue and cannot be called back.
The VAR protocol is also set to be extended to allow video assistant referees to check red cards resulting from a second yellow card, enabling them to advise match referees to review the decision where that second caution is clearly incorrect.
Furthermore, VAR could intervene if a red or yellow card is mistakenly awarded to the wrong team, ensuring greater fairness and accuracy in disciplinary actions.
Meanwhile, the Press Association understands that a trial of the 'daylight' offside rule change, championed by Arsène Wenger, will not now take place in the Canadian Premier League, as suggested at last month’s IFAB annual business meeting in London.
The IFAB will, however, discuss ongoing, limited trials of 'daylight' and consider whether to also trial a modification of this 'daylight' offside rule, specifically judged on whether an attacker’s torso is ahead of the second-last defender.