TIME’S UP: New Rules Set to Blow the Whistle on Football’s Time-Wasters
From Sunday’s Community Shield down to Sunday league, a new rulebook lands this weekend — and the game’s biggest time-wasters are about to be caught out.
Trialled at this summer’s World Cup, the changes pushed ball-in-play time up to 60.43%, from 56.86% at Qatar 2022. Last weekend’s Carabao Cup showed plenty are still catching up.
The headlines:
Injury clock doubles — treatment now means a minimum one minute off the pitch (up from 30 seconds), team down a man till time’s up.
Five-second countdown — throw-ins and goal-kicks must be taken fast, or possession/a corner goes the other way.
Subs on a stopwatch — players have 10 seconds to leave the pitch, or their replacement waits a full minute.
VAR’s new job — can now overturn a wrongly awarded second-yellow red card, but can’t add a card the ref missed.
Hair-pulling — deliberate, forceful pulling is a straight red.
For teams built on milking the clock, the free ride is over. Sunday’s Community Shield is the first real test.
Stay with XScore for previews and reaction as the new laws hit their first Premier League test this weekend
