The six-second rule for goalkeepers is rarely or never enforced in football. That’s why a new rule could soon be introduced to more consistently punish goalkeepers for wasting time.
The International Football Association Board (IFAB) is currently testing a new rule that would give goalkeepers eight seconds to hold the ball in their hands.
Currently, the rule states that a goalkeeper may control the ball with his hands for a maximum of six seconds. If he exceeds this time, an indirect free kick should be awarded to the opposing team in the penalty area.
Corner kick instead of free kick
In practice, however, this rule is rarely enforced. For example, in 2015, on a Bundesliga match day, there were almost 50 percent of all cases in which an indirect free kick should have been awarded – that would have been almost 60 indirect free kicks on the 14th Bundesliga match day of the 2015/16 season that Sky had examined at the time.
But the punishment for the offense is extremely high, which is probably one of the main reasons why the rule is not implemented. That’s why the IFAB now wants to work on it. In the future, the goalkeeper should have eight seconds to get rid of the ball. Otherwise, the opposing team gets a corner kick instead of a free kick.
IFAB: “Prevent or curb time-wasting”
The new rules state that the referee should show the countdown from five seconds to zero with his hand. The goalkeeper will receive a verbal warning for the first offense, and yellow for any subsequent offense.
The rule is already being tested in England’s Premier League 2, where the top clubs’ youth teams play in England. According to the IFAB, “systematic enforcement of the ban on holding the ball too long”, combined with a restart that does not give the opposing team too much of an advantage, can “prevent or at least reduce” time-wasting.