Football lawmakers IFAB have announced a new major change next season regarding goalkeepers in a bid to reduce time wasting as rarely enforced law to be replaced
Football is set to see a major law change from next season after lawmakers announced a new law affecting goalkeepers.
The International Football Association Board (IFAB) have announced they are set to introduce a change to Law 12.2 from the 2025/26 season. The decision will now punish goalkeepers who keep hold of the ball for too long.
Under the current law, which is rarely-ever enforced, a goalkeeper is not permitted to keep the ball in their grasp longer than six seconds when in control of the ball.
As it stands, Law 12.2 states that an indirect free-kick is to be awarded if a keeper “controls the ball with the hand/arm for more than six seconds before releasing it”.
But now, a statement has been released by the IFAB indicating that the law will be changed, with a corner kick now to be awarded for an infringement. It read: “The IFAB has unanimously decided to amend Law 12.2 (Indirect free kick).
“The amendment means that if a goalkeeper holds the ball for longer than eight seconds (with the referee using a visual five-second countdown), the referee will award a corner kick to the opposing team (rather than the current indirect free kick for more than six seconds).
“The following decisions were also taken at the 139th Annual General Meeting (AGM) of The IFAB, hosted by the Irish Football Association (IFA) in Belfast, Northern Ireland.”
Noel Mooney, the CEO of the Football Association of Wales (FAW), said that the six-second rule had “dissolved over time” and the updated law is hoped to lead to a reduction in time wasting.
Changes to the law will also be implemented in the Premier League from next season, with the FIFA Club World Cup in the USA from 15 June to 13 July being the first time the law will be active.
The change has already been trialled in over 400 games in three different competitions, including the Premier League 2. FIFA secretary general Mattias Grafstrom said: “We had the test and the test was very successful. The referees didn’t have to signal for a corner [often].”