- 3 minutes ago
Just when you thought you understood football, FIFA drops a bombshell of new rules for the World Cup. We're breaking down the massive changes to VAR, including its new powers to overturn second yellow cards, correct corner kicks, and even penalize fouls before the ball is in play. Is this a step in the right direction?
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00:00Just when I thought I had a grip on this summer's World Cup, the time differences, the long winding pathway
00:05to the final and how much money I've saved by not going,
00:07FIFA go and throw a spanner in the works with some brand new rules for the tournament.
00:11Don't act like you're not surprised.
00:13From injury time limits to bans on covering your mouth and an even more powerful VAR remit,
00:18this is exactly how the new World Cup rules will affect your team.
00:22Now we all know that football's lawmakers love to tinker with the game.
00:26Usually it's a minor tweak to the houndball rule that nobody understands, but this time they've completely rewritten the blueprint
00:32for how a match is policed.
00:34To make sense of the incoming chaos, I've broken these changes down into three distinct categories.
00:38The good at first sight, the okay I guess, and the downright terrible.
00:44Let's start with a bit of positivity, shall we?
00:46Because believe it or not, two rules are actually looking to fix some of the most frustrating blind spots in
00:51modern football.
00:53First up, we have the evolution of VAR.
00:56After review, West Ham at number 19.
00:59Now I know what you're thinking, more VAR is usually a recipe for a massive headache, and we'll come back
01:03to that shortly.
01:04But look at what they're actually changing here.
01:06For years, one of the biggest complaints has been that VAR can't intervene on a second yellow card.
01:12If a referee completely bottles a decision and sends a player off for a soft second yellow,
01:16the video assistant has to just sit there, with their hands tied, watching the game getting ruined.
01:21Starting now, that rule is dead.
01:23VAR can now step in to overturn a clearly incorrect second yellow card, fix cases of mistaken identity,
01:29and even correct wrongly awarded corner kicks, if it can be done quickly before the restart.
01:34Honestly, this feels like a massive safety net for some teams who like to play on the edge,
01:38maybe with a little bit too much aggression.
01:40I mean, it does make sense.
01:41If you can review a red card that will have an obvious impact on the game,
01:45you should be able to check second yellows too.
01:47And corners also make sense, right?
01:49Like I mentioned, they're supposed to be overturned only if it doesn't delay the restart.
01:52However, I do feel like this is the start of a slippery slope into taking every decision out of the
01:57assistant
01:57and the referee's hands, and just having camera-led reviews for everything in the future.
02:02Like, there might not even be a ref.
02:04Still, for now, given how much set pieces seem to be such an integral part of the modern game,
02:08it feels like an injection of genuine common sense.
02:12And that brings us nicely to the second good rule,
02:16which is going to put an absolute end to the dark arts we see during set pieces.
02:20From this moment on, VAR can now penalise players for fouls committed
02:24before a corner or free kick is actually taken.
02:26We've all seen the same scene play out.
02:28The ball hasn't even been kicked yet, but inside the six-yard box, it looks like a raw rumble.
02:32Defenders are wrestling, pulling shirts, pulling hair,
02:35and basically doing everything to stop an attacker from moving.
02:38Previously, referees would just blow the whistle, give a soft warning,
02:41and tell them to calm down with very little repercussion
02:43compared to when the exact same thing happens seconds later.
02:46Now, if an attacker gets fouled before the ball is in play,
02:49VAR will recommend an on-field review, and the appropriate card will be handed out,
02:54and then the set piece will be retaken.
02:55So, if you're a team that relies heavily on chaotic physical defending at corners,
03:00think of pretty much every single Arsenal corner this season,
03:03your players are going to be under an absolute microscope at this World Cup.
03:07The sneaky shirt pulls in the box are officially dead.
03:10But, here's the kicker for that one, and to be honest, any VAR rule.
03:15I'm not so sure that any sort of argy-bargy in the box is worth a review,
03:19because nothing is actually going to be that bad before the ball is kicked.
03:23However, if we are reviewing everything, how long is this going to take?
03:26The sheer amount of time to get every single decision run through VAR,
03:31corners, second yellows, pulling someone's hair at a free kick,
03:35it means we may end up with copious amounts of injury time,
03:38players playing well over 100 minutes per match,
03:41and the in-stadium experience, not to mention on TV,
03:44going from a frenetic two hours to a labored three-hour-plus event.
03:49I think you can see why I named this category good at first sight.
03:52Still, compared to what's coming up in the terrible section later, it's not so bad.
03:57Hey, have a f***ing word within that ref!
04:00But before we get to that, we have the okay, I guess, rules.
04:03The middle ground in all of this, if you will.
04:05The kind of rules where you can totally see what FIFA are trying to achieve,
04:09but the actual execution of them is going to cause absolute administrative mayhem on the pitch.
04:15First off is what I like to call the 10-second eviction notice.
04:18We've all seen it a million times.
04:20It's the 89th minute, a team is hanging on to a 1-0 lead,
04:23and the manager decides to make a tactical substitution to eat away at the clock.
04:27The player being subbed off then suddenly looks like he's walking through treacle,
04:31clapping the fan, shaking the ref's hand, and taking three business days to cross the white line.
04:35Well, FIFA have had enough.
04:37Under the new rules, players have exactly 10 seconds to leave the field from the moment the
04:42board goes up, and they must exit at the closest byline.
04:45If they fail to do that, the substitute must wait one full minute of active play before coming on.
04:52Think about how insane that is from a tactical standpoint.
04:55If a player drags his heels for 11 seconds,
04:57he forces his own team to play with 10 men for a minimum of a minute.
05:01Imagine that in injury time.
05:02Managers who micromanage every single second of the match are going to be having sleepless nights,
05:07training their players to sprint off the pitch.
05:09It's obviously much harder as well if you're carrying a knock.
05:12It completely turns time-wasting on its head,
05:15and the logistics get even weirder when you look at another newly-timed rule.
05:19From now on, if a player receives a medical treatment,
05:22they then must leave the field of play for one full minute after the restart.
05:27There are exceptions for concussions and goalkeeper collisions,
05:30but for your standard knocks, you're off for 60 seconds.
05:33Now, the logic here is solid, right?
05:35It stops teams from faking injuries to break the opposition's momentum or catch their breath,
05:39but the flip side is that it heavily punishes teams that are legitimately getting caught by heavy tackles.
05:45Look at Brazil versus Serbia for the previous World Cup in 2022.
05:49Neymar was fouled nine times in that game.
05:52Granted, not every foul is an injury,
05:54but I think we can say the Serbians were employing some rough tactics to stop Neymar's momentum.
05:59If he gets battered nine times throughout a game and needs medical attention,
06:03he'd then have to miss a combined nine minutes of the match.
06:07Sure, maybe it'll stop some players from feigning injury,
06:09but there could also be an incentive to whack the opposition's best player,
06:13knowing they'll have to leave the pitch for 60 seconds.
06:16Under these rules, you could find yourselves consistently down to 10 men for chunks of the match.
06:20And to top it all off,
06:22FIFA have also banned tactical timeouts during goalkeeper injuries.
06:25If a keeper is down getting treatment,
06:27players from both teams are legally forbidden from running over to the touch time
06:31to get a quick tactical lecture from their manager.
06:33No huddles, no whiteboard sessions, nothing.
06:36You just have to stand there and wait.
06:38We can't have keepers faking injuries for the sake of team talks all the time.
06:41If you add those in, plus the water breaks,
06:43oh, by the way, there's going to be water breaks,
06:45although that's nothing really new.
06:47The VAR reviews, timings can run all over the shop here.
06:50It is all designed to keep the game moving.
06:53And look, I appreciate the effort to kill off the dark arts of time wasting.
06:56But by introducing strict stopwatches and touchline bans,
07:00it feels like FIFA are trying to control every single second of the game.
07:04It's like being micromanaged by an annoying boss
07:06when all you want to do is take a 10 minute break at work to watch some YouTube.
07:09Who knows?
07:09Maybe that's exactly what you're doing right now.
07:11But I guess if you think a 10 second substitution countdown is a bit intense,
07:16just wait until you see what they've cooked up for our final category.
07:19The downright terrible.
07:20Because this is where common sense goes completely out the window.
07:25Video aside for a second, though, here's a quick hypothetical question for you.
07:29Imagine you've been silly enough to book your holidays during the World Cup
07:31or you're traveling somewhere for work and can't get your World Cup fix.
07:35You've got your TV license sorted to watch the BBC coverage in the UK
07:38or the ITV coverage, but not abroad.
07:40So what do you do?
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08:06It's embarrassing.
08:07It's a disgrace.
08:08That's what it is.
08:09A disgrace.
08:09Remember at school when your teacher is trying to get the class to shut up
08:12so they raise their hand with a countdown, a sort of a you've got five seconds.
08:16Yeah, we've got referees doing that now
08:18because for every goal kick and throw-in, a player has five seconds
08:21counted ever so tediously on the ref's hand to get the ball back in play.
08:26If the clock runs out on the throw-in, it's turned over to the opposition.
08:28If the clock runs out on a goal kick, you are just getting a yellow card for time-wasting.
08:32The opposing team gets an immediate corner kick.
08:35This is an absolute death sentence for the elite ball-playing goalkeepers
08:39who like to bait the press, assess the field, and build meticulously from the back.
08:43Imagine the 93rd minute of a crucial knockout game.
08:46The keeper takes six seconds to spot the ball because he's waiting for his centre-backs to split.
08:50The referee's hand goes up, the countdown hits zero,
08:52and suddenly you've handed the opposition a free corner.
08:54Mark my words, this will happen at some point.
08:57There will be a goal, s*** will hit the fan.
09:00But not as much as this final rule,
09:03which is bound to be the most chaotic and highly controversial rule of the entire tournament,
09:07the mouth-covering red card.
09:10Under the new law, any player who covers their mouth with a hand, arm, or shirt
09:14in a confrontational situation will be shown an immediate red card.
09:19If it appears to be a friendly chat, then there's no issue.
09:22Now, the context here is serious.
09:24It comes directly after Benfica's Gianluca Prestiani
09:26was accused of hiding discriminatory slurs behind his shirt
09:29during a clash of Vinicius Jr. in the Champions League,
09:32resulting in a massive global ban.
09:34And, while the intent to stamp out hidden abuse is completely correct,
09:38the action enforcement is a legal minefield for referees.
09:42Players instinctively cover their mouths through everything nowadays.
09:45It's become such an instinctive reaction
09:47before whispering tactical adjustments to a teammate,
09:50just swearing to the high heavens in frustration
09:52because they're blowing out their arse after a 60-yard sprint.
09:55How on earth is a referee supposed to actually differentiate
09:58between a player hiding a vile insult
10:00and a player just expressing emotion?
10:02Aggressive, highly animated talkers
10:04who play with their heart on their sleeves,
10:05I'm thinking of Bruno Fernandes, Emi Martinez,
10:09they're in trouble.
10:10Even the most positive or encouraging words
10:12can look aggressive when you're in the heat of the battle.
10:14And the moment they get into a strong discussion
10:16and instinctively put their hand to their face,
10:18they're heading down the tunnel.
10:20It risks completely sterilizing the passion of the game,
10:23although, as I mentioned,
10:24the intent behind it is absolutely correct.
10:27There is zero room for discrimination in football whatsoever.
10:32And finally, then, we come to the ultimate nuclear option,
10:35where if a team leaves the field of play
10:37to protest a refereeing decision,
10:39the players involved get a red card.
10:41Any team official, so a coach or manager,
10:44inciting it gets a red,
10:45and the team automatically forfeit the game,
10:47resulting in a 3-0 loss.
10:50By introducing this, FIFA haven't solved bad refereeing,
10:53they've just legally trapped the players.
10:54They've got to stand there,
10:56take a catastrophic decision on the chin,
10:57and keep playing,
10:58because walking away to take a stand
11:00means losing your entire World Cup spot.
11:03Maybe, just maybe,
11:05FIFA wouldn't have to fear these protests
11:07if they didn't keep adding more and more complex rules
11:09to interpret, but hey, what do I know?
11:11These rules seem fairly straightforward on paper,
11:14but they aren't as easy to implement in real time.
11:17The flow of each game is different.
11:19The stakes aren't always the same,
11:20and there are so many things
11:22that can be open to interpretation.
11:25One minute, a push in the area is being punished,
11:27the next it's not.
11:28Another moment, there's a player taking too long
11:30to take a throw in,
11:31but not being punished for it.
11:33In short, my prediction for how these rules will go down
11:36sounds something like a Genaro Gattuso press conference.
11:39Sometimes maybe good,
11:40sometimes maybe s***.
11:42Still, despite all these rule changes,
11:44I'm determined to be positive,
11:45and believe that we will see the moments of magic
11:47which make a World Cup memorable.
11:49When the ball's flying around at breakneck speed,
11:51when everything is on the line
11:52as the final whistle approaches
11:53and when Genia strikes in the midst of all the chaos
11:56and the ball hits the back of the net.
11:59Before VAR check it, that is.
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