At its 140th Annual General Meeting (AGM), The International Football Association Board (The IFAB) approved a package of measures designed to enhance match tempo and reduce time-wasting across the game. These changes, which will be implemented at the FIFA World Cup 2026 and all other competitions, respond directly to calls from stakeholders across the football community, including The IFAB’s globally representative advisory panels, for practical tools to protect effective playing time.
Throw-ins and goal kicks
Building on last year’s widely welcomed change in the Laws to prevent goalkeepers from holding the ball for too long, the AGM confirmed the extension of the countdown principle to throw-ins and goal kicks. If the referee considers that a throw-in or goal kick is taking too long or is being deliberately delayed, a five-second visual countdown will be initiated. If the ball is not in play at the end of the countdown, the throw-in will be awarded to the opposing team; a delayed goal kick will result in a corner kick to the opposing team.
Time-limited substitutions
To further streamline match flow, substituted players must leave the field of play within 10 seconds of the substitution board being displayed or, where no board is used, upon the referee’s signal. Should the player fail to leave within this time, they must still exit the field; however, the substitute will not be permitted to enter until the first stoppage after one minute of play (running clock) has elapsed.
Off-field treatment and assessment
Where a player receives on-field assessment for an injury, or their injury causes play to be stopped, the player will be required to leave the field of play and remain off for one minute once play (running clock) has restarted.
VAR system protocol developments
Regarding the VAR system protocol, the AGM approved three adjustments. Where there is clear evidence, the VAR will now be permitted to check and review: red cards arising from a clearly incorrect second yellow card; mistaken identity, when the referee penalises the wrong team for an offence resulting in a red or yellow card being shown to the wrong player; and competitions may allow VARs to review a clearly incorrectly awarded corner kick, provided that the review can be completed immediately and without delaying the restart.
Laws of the Game 2026/27
Additionally, the next edition of the Laws of the Game, effective from 1 July 2026 (with competitions starting before that date being able to implement the changes earlier), will feature the following amendments:
- Law 3 (The Players): The number of permitted substitutes in senior ‘A’ international friendly matches is increased to eight; both teams may agree to a further increase up to a maximum of eleven.
- Law 4 (The Player’s Equipment): Non-dangerous items will be permitted if safely and securely covered.
- Law 5 (The Referee): Referee body cameras (chest- or head-mounted) may be used as a competition option, with the competition providing the cameras and controlling the use of the footage.
- Law 8 (The Start and Restart of Play): Clarification that the ball is dropped for the team that would have had or retained possession had play not been stopped.
- Law 10 (Determining the Outcome of a Match) and Law 14 (The Penalty Kick): Incorporation of the clarification contained in circular 31 (June 2025) regarding an accidental “double touch” by the penalty taker.
- Law 12 (Fouls and Misconduct): Where the referee applies advantage for an offence for (denying an obvious goalscoring opportunity and a goal is scored), the offending player will not be cautioned, as the offence did not prevent a goal.
The IFAB also agreed that consultation will be held to develop measures where (i) players unilaterally deciding to leave the field of play as an act of protest a referee’s decision or team officials instigating such action, and (ii) players covering their mouth when confronting opponents during matches. The AGM agreed to continue offside trials related to offside and received updates on the development of semi-automated offside technology (SAOT), and the ongoing FIFA-led trial of Football Video Support. (Source: IFAB)
Collina explains upcoming changes
“The goal is to eliminate, or to eliminate as much as possible, timewasting that hinders the spectacle of the game,” Collina told La Gazzetta dello Sport about the upcoming changes that were decided upon on Saturday. “Last year we introduced the ‘eight second rule’ for goalkeepers, which has been a great success. There have been very few cases where a corner has been granted. The deterrent has worked. Considering the amount of time that is lost through so many goal-kicks and free-kicks, we thought we needed to find a solution.”
Another rule that will be introduced at the FIFA World Cup is a 10-second limit for players to leave the field after a substitution has been called. If players fail to leave the pitch within the allocated 10 seconds, the replacement substitute will not be permitted to enter until the next stoppage in play, or until one minute of action has passed. “We already did something, making substitutes leave the pitch from the nearest point. The time limit is a more effective deterrent than the yellow card, which is sometimes seen as some sort of ‘deal’,” Collina said. “The results in recent years in MLS show that this measure works,” he added.
VAR will now be able to intervene on second yellow card decisions, which had not previously been the case. Just two weeks ago in Serie A, Pierre Kalulu was incorrectly sent off for a second bookable offence in one of the biggest matches of the season, the Derby d’Italia between Inter and Juventus, but the referee Federico La Penna was unable to refer the incident for review as it was not a straight red card incident. This will no longer be the case. Some might argue that it should always have been the case that VAR is able to intervene on second yellow card offences and not just for straight red card incidents. “When we decided on the VAR trial in 2016, the technology was very different,” Collina explained. “The protocol was written from scratch and took inspiration from other sports, such as rugby, and video officials had no prior experience. Today, the situation is very different. We’ve been discussing it for a few years and unfortunately until now, some had not considered it to be a priority, which is a shame.” VAR will now also be able to review corner kick decisions, which had not previously been the case. “A corner is a resumption of play that always takes a certain amount of time,” Collina said. “Usually, you must wait until the centre-backs go up and the kicker often has to cross the length of the pitch. In that time, it could be the case that by simply looking at an image, you realise the decision was wrong. Does it make sense to let the corner go and hope that a goal isn’t scored? It’s much better to correct the initial decision and postpone it.” (Source: Football Italia)
