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List of planned rule changes set to shake up football within next five years

A list of planned rule changes set to shake up football within the next five years has been revealed, and not everyone is happy.

The beautiful game we all know and love has been changing a lot over the last decade or so, with the introduction of VAR, goal line technology, injury prevention and fan behaviour among many other things.

But FIFA is still fed up with time wasters and the world governing body is looking for ways to speed up the game.

Arsene Wenger, who is now FIFA’s chief of global development, put forward a number of radical proposals in 2020, and while some of them prompted sniggering from the football world, we are starting to see some creeping in.

He demanded a better spectacle and kick-ins instead of throw ins, automated offsides, self-serve free kicks, quick corners and a countdown clock are potential law changes which are expected to be tested following discussions at the 136th Annual General Meeting of the International Football Association Board.

‘The reality is that in five years, at the elite level, football is not going to resemble what is played on a Sunday morning in the park,’ said Dr Tom Webb a senior lecturer and an expert in refereeing at the University of Portsmouth.

The game’s rule makers, the International Football Association Board, are under pressure to keep the game appealing and IFAB is planning a series of trials before making a decision on any changes.

Football bosses are aware they have to engage a younger generation of fans, who may not be prepared to spend 45 minutes of the regulation 90 waiting for the ball to come back into play.

Dr Tom Webb and Sportsmail talked about the four changes IFAB are expected to consider.

The Countdown Clock:

Likely to see it in the next five years: Yes

Instead of the 90 minutes set down when the laws were codified in 1863, 60 minutes of competitive action is being considered instead.

As it stands in the Premier League, ‘ball in play time’ is at its lowest level for more than 10 years. In 2021-22, the teams only competed for 55 minutes and seven seconds per match, on average. Sportmail report how it’s even worse in the Championship, Leagues One and Two, where ‘effective playing time’ drops below 50 minutes.

The solution is a clock that counts down from 30 minutes to zero in each half, but like in basketball, it is stopped for each delay.

Looking at the stats, just Manchester City return an average effective playing time of more than 60 minutes in the top flight.

Time-wasting occurs around almost all restarts, such as goal kicks, throw-ins, free kicks, corners, and in the theatrical walk offs during substitutions.

West Ham and Brentford are two other top flight sides who relied on set pieces for goals. When they faced off at the London Stadium back in October, there were 17 corners and 29 fouls awarded by referee Peter Bankes, with the ball was in play for just 41 minutes and 33 seconds, as Brentford won 2-1.

The countdown clock has already been tested at the Future of Football Cup in 2021, a youth tournament contested by PSV Eindhoven, AZ Alkmaar, RB Leipzig, and Club Brugge, and was well received.

Kick-ins to replace throw-ins

Could we see it in five years: No

While cutting the length of the game from 90 to 60 minutes with a countdown clock looks like a bigger change than using a kick-in instead of a throw-in, experts suggest that a kick-in would have a far greater impact on the game.

‘It’s a bigger change,’ said Dr Webb. ‘This would be a fundamental shift and it has a way to go in terms of winning the argument.’

This is something that FIFA trialled the kick-in in Belgium, Hungary… and the Diadora League in the 1994-95 season but hasn’t gone down well.

Allan Cockram, then-manager of St Albans City, threatened to terminate his players’ contracts if they attempted a kick-in.

Mark Lawford, a reporter who covered Horsham FC for the West Sussex County Times, said: ‘Soon, all teams will field five seven-foot defenders and three even taller attackers, while ‘keepers will probably have to duck just to avoid the floodlights’, he reflected. ‘There is nothing pretty in watching the ball launched time after time from the touchline.’

There is no evidence the footballers of the Diadora League grew taller, but they did ‘launch it’.

‘I saw East Thurrock v Flackwell Heath on the first day of the season – it was awful,’ recalled one fan on the Non-League Matters chat forum, 10 years following the trial’s end. ‘Whenever a throw-in was won, someone would just toe punt the ball towards the opponent’s box where there was a mass of six-foot plus blokes waiting.’

‘It was appalling,’ agreed another supporter. ‘A mockery. Slowed the whole match down as every time the ball went out it ended up as a set piece free-kick. Hated it and glad to see the back of it.’

When kick-ins were reported about in June 2022, Gary Lineker gave his verdict: ‘Not sure it’s a good idea. Will slow the game down as every throw-in in the opponents half becomes a free kick.’

Wenger suggests there could be a time limit of five seconds while others talks about limitations on where the kick-in could be used. Yet that just proves it wouldn’t work due to every complication adding complexity – and time.

Self-serve free kicks

This is something that has been described as a great idea which will speed the game up immediately.

Could we see it within the next five years: Yes

‘Given FIFA want to speed the game up, this would be fairly straight forward to do,’ said Dr Webb. ‘It gives teams an option to play quickly and may mean they do not necessarily load the box.’

‘Bringing the big lads up from the back’ is always a time-consuming process.

It is being compared to a tap in rugby, a self-serve free kick would play into the hands of a switched-on footballer who spots an opportunity and takes advantage of it with a piece of freestyle skill.

This could go on to create exciting attacking opportunities, would accelerate the game, reduce the amount of protests from offending players.

‘They would have to look at players being a distance from the ball in football, too,’ said Dr Webb. ‘Otherwise, players would just stand on the ball and no time would be saved.’

Lineker believes the quick free kick would be a useful change, saying: ‘If you want to change something; allow players to take quick free-kicks, even to themselves,’ he added on Twitter. ‘Punish those who foul, not those who are fouled. Would speed the game up too.’

Quick Corners

The self-serve corner has already been used in youth matches between Rangers and Dundee United last season and trialled at the Future Football Cup, along with quick-tap free kicks and the countdown clock.

The new style of corner was reportedly ineffective, however the coaches had little time to prepare and with preparation they could be a dangerous option.

When looking at Man City: they won more corners (316) than any other side in the Premier League last season and developed a failed short-corner routine too, something they use for one third of their kicks.

The Athletic write that City work the ball between two corner takers and a third man with the plan to change the angle of the cross and allowing three aggressive attackers time to lose their markers.

The options increase manifold if the corner taker can tap it to himself.

‘It is another tactical option,’ said Dr Webb. ‘I can see a real benefit to the attacking team. Defenders may not be organised and so aware of where the attackers are, so it creates opportunities.

‘There may be a benefit to taking it quickly rather than waiting for all of the defenders to come up. Given there is a drive to quicken the game up this could be an option.’

Teams like Man City, Liverpool and Chelsea often attack the ‘half-spaces’, which are the imaginary strips of the pitch down the sides of the penalty area. The likes of Jack Grealish, Mo Salah and Reece James love to operate in these areas.

We see crosses become passes, players desperate to avoid fouls and driven balls likely to bounce off defenders.

A quick-tap corner will see an opportunity for a footballer to run into this dangerous space, while the defending team is still organising. Defenders need to come out and meet the threat creating more space in the penalty area.

Sportsmail say quick-tap corners would see a break from the set piece and ritual wrestling that accompanies it. Even if teams only used them sparingly, it come save hours of penalty box mediation by officials, every season.

WHAT ARE THE RULE CHANGES FOR 2022/23 IN THE PREMIER LEAGUE

Clubs will be able to make five rather than three substitutions. These substitutions can be made in three stoppages during game time, and additionally at half time, in line with rest of the top six European leagues (Bundesliga, Ligue 1, the Eredivisie, La Liga and Serie A).

Another rule that has been amended is Law 14, which sees goalkeepers now be allowed to have one foot behind the goal line during a penalty kick. On the subject of penalties, during a shoot-out, team officials can now be booked and dismissed under Law 10.

Two changes have been made to Law 12. It sees an indirect free-kick awarded from where a player exits the field if they assault an ‘outside agent’ such as a fan or a pitch invader. This can only occur when the ball is in play, otherwise play restarts from where the preceding throw-in, free-kick, goal kick or penalty was awarded.

Law 12 also clears up any doubt that the goalkeeper is allowed to handle the ball inside the area amid a goalscoring opportunity – or that anyone but the goalkeeper cannot.

The changes made to Law 8 is more down to its term. The phrase ‘referee tosses the coin’ has been added to specifically outline who does the coin toss – beforehand, anyone could have conducted the pre-kick-off ritual. Yes, really.

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