Goalkeepers to face new eight second rule from 2025/26 season | OneFootball

The International Football Association Board (IFAB) has approved a new eight-second rule that will be imposed on goalkeepers to try and stop time-wasting.

Starting from the 2025/26 season, goalkeepers must release the ball within eight seconds of first holding it. If they fail to do so, the opposing team will be awarded a corner kick.

Referees will start a countdown with their hands after three seconds of possession, making it clear how much time remains. The first offence will result in a warning, and keepers who continue to waste time will then receive a yellow card.

The rule has been brought in to try and make games flow better. There was previously a rule in place that keepers holding the ball for more than six seconds would result in an indirect free-kick for the opposition, but that was very rarely policed or enforced.

Patrick Nelson, the chief executive of the Irish FA, who held the IFAB meeting on Saturday, said: “Goalkeepers holding on to the ball for too long have been a bane of many people’s lives for quite some time, so some action has been taken.

“The results of the trials have been very, very positive, so we’re going to move forward and put that into the laws of the game as soon as possible.”

The new rule has been trialed in over 400 matches, including Premier League Under-21 games, and has seen very few instances of corners being awarded, suggesting goalkeepers are adhering to the new regulation. It will be introduced in the upcoming FIFA Club World Cup before full implementation in the 2025/26 campaign.

Fifa’s secretary general Mattias Grafstrom also weighed in, saying: “We had the test and the test was very successful. The referees didn’t have to signal for a corner (very often).”