The International Football Association Board (IFAB) is considering changing its rules to reduce time-wasting by holding the ball too long. Goalkeepers

are usually only warned for holding on to the ball for too long, although the rules state. That referees must call a foul and award two free kicks to the opposing team. If they hold on to the ball for more than six seconds.

However, such fouls are rare, so a new approach is being tested, which would see officials count down five seconds to warn goalkeepers. That they are at risk of being fouled.

The rule has been trialled in England’s Under-21s and in Italy’s Under-20s. And has been found to be effective in reducing time-wasting by goalkeepers.

“The data from the trials is very interesting. The two trials involved a corner being awarded if a goalkeeper held on to the ball for too long.” said Patrick Nelson, CEO of the Football Association of Ireland and board member of the IFAB.

“And corners are rarely awarded for such situations.

The data suggests that it deters the time-wasting that we want. It forces goalkeepers to release the ball faster and gets the game back on track.”

In addition to trials in the UK and Italy The rule has also been trialled in Malta. But if a foul is called, a throw-in will be awarded rather than a corner kick.

IFAB have also confirmed they are looking at changing the offside rule to make it fairer, rather than having a goal disallowed for a

toenail offside. “We are still discussing the changes, and we sympathise with the fact that technology has meant that the advantage of the offender has largely disappeared,ทางเข้า ufabet ” said technical director David Elliray. “

We all agree that it would be great if goals were not disallowed for a toenail offside.”