VAR given more power as Premier League rules changed to end time-wasting | Football | Sport
VAR’s powers have been expanded by football’s rule-makers in developments certain to spark further debate. The International Football Association Board (IFAB) have doubled down on the Video Assistant Referee, despite ongoing incidents and grievances. VAR reviews of corners will be available for competitions from this summer, whilst the VAR protocols have been broadened to include second yellow cards and cards issued to the wrong team.
IFAB have also sanctioned a series of measures to combat time-wasting tactics designed to disrupt the flow of matches which come into effect this summer. The successful implementation of the eight-second rule for goalkeepers has encouraged IFAB to advance its efforts to prevent players from delaying the game. Referees will be granted authority to initiate a five-second countdown if they believe players are taking excessive time over throw-ins and dead-ball goal kicks, and substitutions must be completed within no more than 10 seconds; otherwise, the substitute must remain off the field for at least one minute.
The IFAB also determined at its annual general meeting in Wales on Saturday to enforce a minimum one-minute break from the pitch for any player whose injury necessitates a stoppage in play. The Premier League has been testing a 30-second timeframe, but some members of the IFAB believed it was insufficient to deter players from delaying matches.
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Other tournaments had experimented with extended periods, with two minutes trialled at last year’s Arab Cup. The objective behind all these new measures set to be introduced is to improve the pace of matches whilst also helping to reduce lengthy amounts of stoppage time, which poses challenges from a player welfare standpoint, for spectators and for broadcasters’ schedules.
New rules approved on Saturday will officially become part of the laws of the game from July 1, but will be introduced at this summer’s World Cup, which gets underway on June 11. IFAB also agreed trials should be conducted to further evaluate goalkeeper tactical injury delays and to propose options to discourage this behaviour.
Lawmakers are insistent that VAR checks on corners must not delay the kick and will only be used to identify obvious errors. Corner-kick checks will be optional, rather than a compulsory element of the VAR protocol.
VARs will also only review incorrectly-awarded second yellow cards. They will not advise referees to issue a second yellow card where one was not shown on the pitch.
IFAB is set to conduct consultations to devise measures to address instances in which players exit the pitch in protest against a referee’s decision or when team officials instigate such actions, as well as situations in which players cover their mouths when confronting opponents during matches.
The Africa Cup of Nations final was postponed due to Senegal’s walk-off, whilst Benfica midfielder Gianluca Prestianni is accused of racially abusing Real Madrid winger Vinicius Junior during a Champions League match last week, with his mouth concealed by his shirt. UEFA is investigating the incident and Prestianni refutes the allegations of racial abuse towards Vinicius.
