New 8 second rule for goalkeepers

[Rosehill Claret]

I attended a friendly football fixture this week, and the new 8 second rule for goalkeepers holding on to the ball was in operation.

After 3 seconds, the referee started to loudly count down from 5 seconds.

My question is.... how will this work in a loud stadium, or was the referee a little over zealous with the audible countdown, and it's not necessary to do so?

[claretburns]

I think in a loud stadium the referee will hold up 5 fingers and countdown however we shouldn't worry too much, early in the season managers like Arteta and Guardiola will complain about the rule, with some reason like awarding extra corners is hazardous to players health and can increase and the likelihood of hamstring injuries and by October it will all be forgotten about.

[bobinho]

Agreed. Remember when refs clamped down on players holding each other in the box at corners? Lasted about 10 games. Now they are back to wrestling again.

[Grimsdale]

I suspect fans will start doing the countdown when their team are trailing and the opposition keeper is pushing it to the limit.

Although I expect the cricket field stand will be going "Eight ... Seven .. Six . five fourthreetwone"

[beddie]

I hadn’t heard of this, is it definitely being brought in this season.

[Ashingtonclaret46]

It certainly wasn't applied in the Womens' UEFA Championship game between Germany and Spain last night, although it is in operation in this competition.

The referee, who was very robotic in everythig she did, failed to punish the keepers for holding on to the ball. The German keeper in particular held on to the ball for between 10 and 14 seconds on many occasions and towards the end of the game she held on to the ball for almost 20 seconds and the referee ignored it.
It will only work if the officials clamp down on it.

[ChrisG]

Is there guidance on when the 8 seconds starts? I think in the past it's been clouded by the keeper making the save, dropping to the knees, and the counter only starting once the keeper is back on their feet.

[Ashingtonclaret46]

The eight-second count begins when the goalkeeper has full control of the ball and is not being challenged by an opposing player.
The referee will visibly count down the final five seconds, ensuring the goalkeeper can see the countdown.
If opponents begin to pressure or obstruct the goalkeeper during the countdown, the referee will stop the count and award an indirect free kick in favour of the goalkeeper.
If the 8 seconds are exceeded the opposing team is awarded a corner kick (At the closest side to where the offence was committed).
Persistent offenders may still receive a caution

All brought in because they think that it will speed up the game, just like when they allowed goal kicks to be taken from anywhere in the area regardless of which side the ball went out.
How did we manage to enjoy football before all these needless changes were introduced?

[IanMcL]

Is there guidance on when the 8 seconds starts? I think in the past it's been clouded by the keeper making the save, dropping to the knees, and the counter only starting once the keeper is back on their feet.

There will be a lot more staying down.

[Rileybobs]

The eight-second count begins when the goalkeeper has full control of the ball and is not being challenged by an opposing player.
The referee will visibly count down the final five seconds, ensuring the goalkeeper can see the countdown.
If opponents begin to pressure or obstruct the goalkeeper during the countdown, the referee will stop the count and award an indirect free kick in favour of the goalkeeper.
If the 8 seconds are exceeded the opposing team is awarded a corner kick (At the closest side to where the offence was committed).
Persistent offenders may still receive a caution

All brought in because they think that it will speed up the game, just like when they allowed goal kicks to be taken from anywhere in the area regardless of which side the ball went out.
How did we manage to enjoy football before all these needless changes were introduced?

Surely if implemented correctly the introduction of this law would be welcomed?

[Commy]

This was in a few years ago but then seemed to vanish. Did they actually take it out of the laws or have goalkeepers just been getting away with it?

[Ashingtonclaret46]

Surely if implemented correctly the introduction of this law would be welcomed?

As was seen last night and in other games I have watched in the Womens' Euros, it is not being implemented correctly, although the keepers can be very crafty and bump into oponents and this could be seen as impeding the release of the ball which should then be a free kick according to the new Law. THis will then mean that the 8 seconds turns into much more time whilst the keeper decides whether to go short or otherwise.

Penalise the keeper for not releasing and give the corner. Opponent taking the corner takes time to try to ensure that part of the ball overhangs the line (or not if it is on the opposite side to the AR). Wrestling going on in the box so the referee intervens and gives a couple of players a talking to before being satisfied that the corner can now be taken. We have progressed fomr a keeper not releasing the ball in 8 seconds to a delay in the game of well over one minute depending on the circumstances.

Why do they keep changing things when the Laws of the Game are ignored most of the time anyway.
Foul throws are the accpeted norm in the game now, added to the fact that they are often taken over 10 yards away from where the ball went out.
Goal kicks were defenders are in the box for the short kick, keeper than decides that he is going to hit it long and tells the defenderss to move up field before taking the kick = more time wasted.
Free kicks not taken anywhere near the correct place, opponents not retreating 10 yards as per the Law. Occasionally players are cautioned for this, however, in order to try to let the game flow the officials ignore it which means that it is selective interpretation of the Law.

How much added time will be played will be welcomed by the gambling community who will be spot beting on this as well as every other thing.

[Rileybobs]

As was seen last night and in other games I have watched in the Womens' Euros, it is not being implemented correctly, although the keepers can be very crafty and bump into oponents and this could be seen as impeding the release of the ball which should then be a free kick according to the new Law. THis will then mean that the 8 seconds turns into much more time whilst the keeper decides whether to go short or otherwise.

Penalise the keeper for not releasing and give the corner. Opponent taking the corner takes time to try to ensure that part of the ball overhangs the line (or not if it is on the opposite side to the AR). Wrestling going on in the box so the referee intervens and gives a couple of players a talking to before being satisfied that the corner can now be taken. We have progressed fomr a keeper not releasing the ball in 8 seconds to a delay in the game of well over one minute depending on the circumstances.

Why do they keep changing things when the Laws of the Game are ignored most of the time anyway.
Foul throws are the accpeted norm in the game now, added to the fact that they are often taken over 10 yards away from where the ball went out.
Goal kicks were defenders are in the box for the short kick, keeper than decides that he is going to hit it long and tells the defenderss to move up field before taking the kick = more time wasted.
Free kicks not taken anywhere near the correct place, opponents not retreating 10 yards as per the Law. Occasionally players are cautioned for this, however, in order to try to let the game flow the officials ignore it which means that it is selective interpretation of the Law.

How much added time will be played will be welcomed by the gambling community who will be spot beting on this as well as every other thing.

Quite cynical, Ashington. Obviously the laws aren’t perfect and they aren’t always applied correctly. However officials aren’t helped by players looking to gain any advantage they can. Throws and free kicks from wrong positions etc can be frustrating, but referees would also be criticised for being overly pedantic if they were to insist that every throw and free kick was taken from the precise location it should be. And players know this and can use this as a time-wasting tactic. So I think in these instances referees are trying to let the game flow and prevent unnecessary stoppages, which I think is the correct thing to do within reason.

Going back to goalkeepers holding the ball, I don’t really see how this can be a negative - and your scenario about a goalkeeper being penalised for holding the ball leading to a stoppage of over 1 minute seems very far-fetched.

[Rowls]

Why do they keep changing things when the Laws of the Game are ignored most of the time anyway.
Foul throws are the accpeted norm in the game now, added to the fact that they are often taken over 10 yards away from where the ball went out.
Goal kicks were defenders are in the box for the short kick, keeper than decides that he is going to hit it long and tells the defenderss to move up field before taking the kick = more time wasted.
Free kicks not taken anywhere near the correct place, opponents not retreating 10 yards as per the Law. Occasionally players are cautioned for this, however, in order to try to let the game flow the officials ignore it which means that it is selective interpretation of the Law.

How much added time will be played will be welcomed by the gambling community who will be spot beting on this as well as every other thing.

Spot on Ashington.

The new "8 second rule" sounds like a better rule than the current rule which is regularly ignored but the main issue with refereeing isn't in "bad" rules, it's the fact there isn't even any attempt being made to implement the current rules.

Referees have lost their authority and instead of going about re-establishing it, they're attempting to govern games "by consent" which is nothing other than a euphemism for the players themselves largely dictating a lot of the decisions.

Everybody understands this and fully expects the new rule to be cast aside. One poster here suggested they expected this to happen "by October". I think that's overly optimistic and expect the new rule will be ignored well before then.

I'd be delighted to be proven wrong on the matter but the implementation of a new rule or a new refereeing style that only lasts for a couple of games has been a tradition for several years now.

[Silkyskills1]

Sounds to me like more focus on the referee which some of them will be delighted with. The irony is that if a free kick is given there will be even more time wasted on teams arranging their 'wall', players pushing and shoving each other and then the ubiquitous 'lecture' from the referee saying God knows what to them before he is satisfied with his showpiece.

[Rileybobs]

Seems the consensus on here (from an admittedly small sample size) is that people don’t want referees to stop goalkeepers timewasting. Which seems at odds with what I hear at Turf Moor whenever an opposition goalkeeper takes more than 5 seconds to take a goal kick.

[JohnMac]

I'm with Ashington on every point. Ignorance of applying the Laws correctly is why Referee's are being exploited further and further by players seeking to gain an advantage. I saw a prime example of a Player v Referee power game at the Burnley Youth Tournament when a young Burnley player was very lucky not to be sent off for deliberate ignorance of the Referee's instruction. The Referee won and the young player, who was displaying a good level of skill, calmed down but you could see the influence televised football has on his game.

[dougcollins]

All brought in because they think that it will speed up the game, just like when they allowed goal kicks to be taken from anywhere in the area regardless of which side the ball went out.

Which actually had the opposite effect, as the keeper of the team in front inevitably moves to the opposite side from where the ball went out.

[martin_p]

If only they’d thought about having a limit on the amount of time a keeper can hold a ball before!

[KRBFC]

It was used in the club World Cup

[Elizabeth]

I'm in favour of changing the current rule and we'll just have to see if it changes goalkeepers' current behaviour.
For sure this has been one big area of the game that has riled fans for too long and had to be tackled.

[Clarets4me]

Seems the consensus on here (from an admittedly small sample size) is that people don’t want referees to stop goalkeepers timewasting. Which seems at odds with what I hear at Turf Moor whenever an opposition goalkeeper takes more than 5 seconds to take a goal kick.

I might suggest that as James Trafford is still a Burnley player, any complaints from our fanbase about goalkeepers timewasting is laughable !!

[evensteadiereddie]

I suspect fans will start doing the countdown when their team are trailing and the opposition keeper is pushing it to the limit.

Although I expect the cricket field stand will be going "Eight ... Seven .. Six . five fourthreetwone"

It'll be easier counting down from six for most of them....

[Goody1975]

Another nonsense directive that'll be brushed under the carpet after six weeks, we have a new soundbite every season that is forgotten about before the clocks go back.

[martin_p]

Seems the consensus on here (from an admittedly small sample size) is that people don’t want referees to stop goalkeepers timewasting. Which seems at odds with what I hear at Turf Moor whenever an opposition goalkeeper takes more than 5 seconds to take a goal kick.

I’d like them to apply the existing law and penalise keepers after six seconds. Not sure why extending the limit by two seconds will make much of a difference (after the first few weeks of referees making a big deal of a new rule).

[Goody1975]

Spot on Ashington.

The new "8 second rule" sounds like a better rule than the current rule which is regularly ignored but the main issue with refereeing isn't in "bad" rules, it's the fact there isn't even any attempt being made to implement the current rules.

Referees have lost their authority and instead of going about re-establishing it, they're attempting to govern games "by consent" which is nothing other than a euphemism for the players themselves largely dictating a lot of the decisions.

Everybody understands this and fully expects the new rule to be cast aside. One poster here suggested they expected this to happen "by October". I think that's overly optimistic and expect the new rule will be ignored well before then.

I'd be delighted to be proven wrong on the matter but the implementation of a new rule or a new refereeing style that only lasts for a couple of games has been a tradition for several years now.

Just like the 'rule' about making a player leave the field if they require treatment (except keepers), cue a new phenomenon of keepers getting cramp and groin strains three times a game.

[Rileybobs]

I’d like them to apply the existing law and penalise keepers after six seconds. Not sure why extending the limit by two seconds will make much of a difference (after the first few weeks of referees making a big deal of a new rule).

6 seconds or 8 seconds makes little difference if it is enforced. Perhaps the law makers feel that it is easier to enforce a 6 second rule as it is fairer on the goalkeeper.

[martin_p]

6 seconds or 8 seconds makes little difference if it is enforced. Perhaps the law makers feel that it is easier to enforce a 6 second rule as it is fairer on the goalkeeper.

Assuming you mean 8 seconds. Not sure why enshrining an extra two seconds of time wasting within the laws of the game is fair to anyone. Officials need to be told to apply the laws of the game consistently, that’s all that’s needed.

[Ashingtonclaret46]

Just like the 'rule' about making a player leave the field if they require treatment (except keepers), cue a new phenomenon of keepers getting cramp and groin strains three times a game.

This has been happening in the Womens' Euros with keepers going down 'injured' when their team has been under a bit of pressure. Their only aim is to slow the game down and there is not a thing the officials can do because the Laws allow them to remain on the field.

[Notsosuperstevedavis]

What disappoints me more than anything will be the rate at which this rule is forgotten.

Just like the yellows for delaying throw-ins law was forgot about by the first week in Selt

[Notsosuperstevedavis]

* September

[Goliath]

They do something like this every year until it gradually fades away again. 10 minute injury time didn't last long or the penalties for shirt pulls at corners