5 refereeing changes to be introduced at World Cup

The International Football Association Board plan to introduce a couple of major refereeing changes at this summer’s World Cup, according to a report.

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The International Football Association Board (IFAB) held their annual business meeting earlier this week, and they approved a few ideas for implementation at the World Cup this summer.

Many of the changes focus on timewasting, with the BBC reporting that IFAB plan to introduce a countdown for goal-kicks and throw-ins, similar to the countdown that currently exists when goalkeepers have the ball in their hands.

Just like with the current rule, if a player fails to put the ball back into play before the countdown ends, possession will switch to the opponent. Goal-kicks will become corners, a throw-in for one team will become a throw-in for the other. But it’s unclear exactly how long the countdown will last.

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In another rule change, substituted players must leave the pitch in 10 seconds, otherwise their replacement won’t be able to come on immediately and the team making the sub will have to temporarily play with 10 players.

A third change is that players who leave the field with an injury will also have to stay off for an extended period. Again, it’s not yet clear exactly how long, with the Premier League currently requiring a 30-second absence and the MLS requiring two minutes.

The last major changes are to VAR. Firstly, all corners will be reviewed by VAR at the World Cup, with IFAB believing the checks will almost always be complete before the kick is taken.

Secondly, VAR can overturn a second yellow card if one is clearly incorrectly awarded (but it can’t recommend giving a second yellow if the referee doesn’t award one on-field).

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It’s not necessarily the case that all of these changes will make it into domestic football next season. The VAR system itself was introduced at the 2018 World Cup, but it wasn’t brought in by the Premier League until 2019/20.

But any changes that work well on football’s biggest stage will undoubtedly lead to calls for the Premier League to implement them too.