Goalkeepers and time wasters, debate rages over new rule

Approved amendment to time loss rule

On the sidelines of the International Football Association Board's Annual Meeting held in Belfast, Northern Ireland, on Saturday, the committee that oversees the regulation of the game of soccer announced a change that promises to be momentous, with a decisive clampdown on time wasting by goalkeepers.

Specifically, starting with the 2025-2026 season, part of rule 12.2 on indirect penalties will change: should the goalkeeper have to hold the ball for more than eight seconds (the last five seconds available will have to be clearly signaled by the referee), a corner kick will in fact be awarded to the opposing team.

The è goal is to prevent goalkeepers from "crumpling" on the ball wasting a lot of time, especially in the endgame, but not everyone has welcomed the change: in fact, the issue has divided fans between proponents of the changes, according to whom we will see much less time wasted by the extreme defenders, and the "conservatives" according to whom the rule distorts the game and excessively penalizes the goalkeepers themselves. A discussion that is becoming more animated by the hour, especially on social networks.

Until the end of this season, the old rule will remain active, whereby the goalkeeper cannot hold the ball for more than six seconds, under penalty of an indirect free kick to the opponents. A rule that according to the IFAB has rarely found application, so much so that it has led to this not-so-small revolution.