IFAB to widen VAR powers and bring in new time-wasting crackdown for World Cup

The International Football Association Board (IFAB) has approved a new set of measures to speed up matches and improve player behaviour, with the changes set to be used at the FIFA World Cup 2026 and then rolled into the Laws of the Game from July 1.The decisions were taken at IFAB’s 140th annual general meeting in Hensol, Wales, on February 28, and include new countdown-style sanctions for slow restarts, tighter substitution procedures and an expanded VAR protocol that will allow reviews in three additional scenarios.IFAB also confirmed it will carry out a two-year review of VAR, 10 years after the technology was first trialled. IFAB technical director David Elleray said: “We have agreed today that after 10 years we should be reviewing VAR to see where we want to go with it.”For match flow, one of the headline changes is the extension of a visual countdown concept to throw-ins and goal kicks. If a referee judges that a restart is taking too long or is being deliberately delayed, a five-second visual countdown can be initiated. If the ball is still not in play when the countdown ends, a delayed throw-in is awarded to the opposition and a delayed goal kick becomes a corner for the opposing team.Substitutions are also being time-limited. Once the substitution board is displayed — or, if there is no board, once the referee signals — the substituted player is required to leave the pitch within 10 seconds. If they do not, they must still leave, but their replacement will not be permitted to enter until the first stoppage after one minute of running time has elapsed following the restart.In addition, where a player receives on-field assessment for an injury, or the injury causes play to be stopped, the player will be required to leave the field and remain off it for one minute of running time once play restarts — a move aimed at discouraging tactical stoppages.On VAR, IFAB approved three adjustments. Where there is clear evidence, VAR will now be permitted to assist the referee with: red cards arising from a clearly incorrect second yellow card; mistaken identity when the referee penalises the wrong team and a card is shown to the wrong player; and, as a competition option, a clearly incorrectly awarded corner kick, as long as any review can be completed immediately and without delaying the restart.The behaviour strand is being pushed on a faster timetable. FIFA president Gianni Infantino said: “We will not allow players to cover their mouths when they speak to an opponent any more.” FIFA has said proposals will be tabled by April 30, with the intention of having measures in place before the World Cup begins on June 11.FIFA referees committee chairman Pierluigi Collina framed the broader push as an attempt to reduce disruption. He said IFAB was “trying to make the game cleaner, to keep the tempo of the match higher, to clear the game of any disruption”.The IFAB documentation says the next edition of the Laws of the Game will be effective from July 1 (with competitions starting before that date able to implement earlier). Alongside the match-flow and VAR updates, it also includes changes such as allowing referee body cameras as a competition option and adjustments to areas including player equipment and certain restart clarifications.