IFAB approves multiple football rule changes

The International Football Association Board have confirmed a raft of rule changes for the World Cup, with many to be picked up by the Premier League next season.

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Following their annual general meeting on Saturday, the International Football Association Board have approved a number of rule-change proposals for the World Cup and the 2026/27 campaign.

For a start, Dale Johnson reports for the BBC that VAR will be used at the World Cup to review corners, but that particular rule change is ‘opt-in’, and the Premier League are not expected to do so.

The Premier League might be in favour of VAR reviewing second yellow cards, however. This would only include second yellow cards incorrectly awarded on the field, with the potential to rescind them. It would not include potential second yellows not given on the field.

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The Premier League definitely will adopt new time-wasting rules, including a five-second countdown on throw-ins and goal-kicks. If the ball isn’t put back into play by the end of the countdown, possession will switch to the opposition.

To be clear, that’s not five seconds from the time the ball leaves the pitch. It will be up to the referee to start the five-second countdown as and when they feel a team is trying to delay the game.

In another change, substituted players must leave the pitch within 10 seconds, or their team will have to play with 10 men for at least a minute, waiting until the next stoppage after that minute is up.

Players who receive medical treatment and go off injured will also have to stay off the pitch for one minute, doubling the timeout currently required by the Premier League.

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In another update, so-called ‘Wenger offsides’ will be trialled in the Canadian Premier League. The new rule would mean a player is only offside if their entire body is beyond the second-to-last opponent (usually the last defender), not just one part of their body.

The results of the trial will be presented to IFAB at the end of the year, with the potential that the change would then be implemented in 2027/28. But until the trial has taken place, it’s hard to say what will happen.