EFL announces interesting Carabao Cup rule changes | OneFootball

The EFL has decided to shake up the Carabao Cup by making a number of adjustments to the competition’s rules.

The biggest change will see extra-time abolished from the Carabao Cup from the 2018/19 season onwards, with matches instead going straight to penalties in the event of a draw.

The EFL hope this measure will prevent players suffering from unnecessary fatigue when forced to play an additional 30 minutes after a mid-week match.

And the EFL has also decided to scrap the use of the ABBA penalty shoot-out system which was trialled in the Carabao Cup last season and revert to the traditional format.

Under the ABBA system, one team would take the first spot-kick in the shoot-out and then the other team would take the next two. The idea was supposed to bring a greater deal of fairness to penalty shoot-outs but the trial has been deemed unsuccessful.

And speaking of fairness, the EFL has also announced that the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) will be used in all Carabao Cup ties played at a Premier League stadium next season.

VAR was trialled in the latter stages of the competition last season, as well as the FA Cup, and will be making its World Cup debut this summer in Russia.

The EFL’s announcement follows the news that the Premier League will introduce a winter break from the 2019/20 season onwards, and replays will be scrapped from the FA Cup fifth round stage in order to accomodate the change.