ROMA (ITALPRESS) – Football tries to speed up its own pace and reduce time losses. During the 140th Annual General Assembly of the International Football Association Board (Ifab), the organ that defines the rules of the game, a package of measures was approved that aims to make the games more dynamic and with more effective time of play. The meeting took place in Hensol and was chaired by Mike Jones, president of the Football Association of Wales, in a symbolic year for the Welsh federation celebrating its 150th anniversary. The news will come into effect already from the 2026 World Championship and in all other competitions. According to the Ifab, the changes respond to requests from all over the world of football “practical tools to protect the actual time of play”.
One of the most significant innovations concerns side remittances and reinforcements from the bottom. After the change introduced last year to limit the time when the goalkeepers can hold the ball (8 seconds), the Ifab decided to extend the countdown principle even to these situations. If the referee believes that the game’s recovery is taking too long, a five-second visual countdown will start. If at the end of the ball has not been put into play, the lateral remittance will pass to the opponents; in case of a delayed return, a corner kick will be awarded.
To make the match smoother, the replaced players will have to leave the field within ten seconds of the exposure of the light board or the referee signal. If the player does not respect this time limit, he will still have to leave the playing ground, but the substitute will only enter the next first interruption after a minute of actual play. Another change concerns the management of accidents. When a player receives medical assistance on the playing ground and the game is stopped, the footballer will have to leave the field and stay out for a minute after the game resumption. The measure was designed to discourage tactical interruptions.
The assembly also approved some changes to the protocol of the Video Assistant Referee (Var). From now on the system will be able to intervene in three additional situations: expulsions resulting from a second clearly wrong yellow card (in Italy the most recent is that of the juventine Kalulu in Inter-Juve), cases of identity exchanged when the refere admonishes or expels the wrong player and, if the revision can take place immediately, also the assignment of a wrong corner football. From 1 July 2026, moreover, in the friendly nationals “A” will be allowed up to eight replacements, with possibility of agreement between the teams to arrive up to eleven; non-dangerous objects in the equipment of the players if adequately covered; the competitions can authorize the use of bodycam for the referees; on the situations of ball to two the director of race will be able to explain to those who goes the ball, as well as on the cases of double accidental touch ammonium in the penalty.
The IFab also agreed “that studies should be conducted to further assess delays due to tactical drivers’ accidents and to propose solutions to discourage this behaviour.” He also decided to start a consultation on behaviors considered problematic, such as teams leaving the field as a protest or players who cover their mouth while discussing with opponents. Finally, experiments will continue with the new interpretation of the outgoing and the development of semi-automatic outgoing technology, as well as testing on the video support system for arbitrators.
-Photo IPA Agency-
(ITALPRESS).
