Video assistant referees will be given new powers at this summer's World Cup, allowing them to intervene immediately before the ball is in play at set-pieces if fouls are committed.
The International Football Association Board (IFAB) announced the new measures over the weekend allowing VAR to step in if the attacking team commits a clear foul before the ball is in play and leads to a direct impact on a goal, penalty kick or disciplinary sanction.
“The IFAB has approved a clarification to the video assistant referee [VAR] protocol for use at the 2026 Fifa World Cup regarding clear offences committed by the attacking team before the ball is in play at a corner kick or free kick that have a direct impact on a goal, penalty kick, or disciplinary sanction," a statement read.
“If the offence meets the criteria set out in the clarification, the VAR will recommend an on-field review, following which, if the referee determines that an offence occurred before the ball was in play, the appropriate disciplinary action will be taken and the corner kick or free kick will be retaken.”
Speaking before the announcement was made, former top official Pierluigi Collina, now Fifa’s chief refereeing officer and chairman of the Fifa referees committee, used the example of England’s goal in their 1-1 friendly against Uruguay in March as one that VAR could disallow under the new protocol.
Collina argued that Ben White’s goal should not have stood as Adam Wharton made a clear block to prevent defender Jose Maria Gimenez challenging for the ball shortly before the corner was taken.
“We are convinced that this goal cannot stand, it is completely unfair,” Collina said. “If a foul is committed just before the ball is in play, we are convinced that nobody can object to something.”
VAR was already due to take on an expanded role from this summer, with officials able to review red cards that result from a wrongful second booking, mistaken identity involving a second yellow card, and also intervene if a corner has been wrongly awarded instead of a goal kick.
Tactical timeouts to be monitored
Fifa is also keen to clamp down on the growing issue of teams using injuries to break up play and hold team talks mid-game while players receive treatment.
Although referees will have no sanctions at their disposal, Collina said referees would be “proactive” in preventing teams unfairly taking advantage of injuries.
“We will not allow the teams going to the benches when a goalkeeper is lying on the ground injured,” he said. “The goalkeeper has the right to be injured, but the players do not have the right to leave the field of play to have some sort of time out with their respective coaches.
“We told them, ‘Be aware that we know’ so what we can avoid is having all the players off the field of play. There are captains, there are coaches, so certainly referees will be ready to face something like this if it should happen.”
Anti-timewasting measures
Other new measures to be rolled out include referees using a visible five-second countdown for throw-ins and goal kicks.
If a throw-in is not taken before the countdown expires, possession will be awarded to the opposition. If a goal-kick is delayed beyond the countdown, the opposing side will receive a corner kick.
Players being substituted will also now have just 10 seconds to leave the pitch after the substitution board has been shown and must exit using the nearest point on the boundary line.
If a player fails to leave within the time limit, their replacement will only be allowed onto the pitch at the first stoppage after one minute has elapsed following the restart.
