Revolution in Football! The IFAB Transforms Refereeing with Open VAR and New Rules

The assembly of the International Football Association Board (IFAB) shook the football world with important announcements regarding refereeing. Starting next summer, VAR decisions will be public, aiming to minimize the controversies generated by each review of specific actions by the referees. The VOR room (two or three referees reviewing plays) will also not be implemented, and coaches will have two opportunities per match to request reviews from the so-called Football Video Support.

Additionally, there will be new penalties against time-wasting by goalkeepers. From next season, if a goalkeeper holds the ball for more than 8 seconds, their team will concede a corner kick, instead of an indirect free kick. To enforce this, referees will signal a 5-second countdown with their hands, alerting goalkeepers about how long they can delay the restart from their area. Similarly, the Law 3:10 will continue to be enforced, which states that only the captains of each team can speak with the referee.

The drop ball will also continue to be implemented after each interruption of play with the ball out of the area. The neutral drop will take place at the spot on the field where the action was stopped, awarding possession to the team that had control of the ball before the game was halted or, if not, would have had the ball according to the referee's judgment. 

When will the new IFAB rules be implemented?

The new regulations approved by the IFAB will be implemented starting from the next Club World Cup, which begins on June 14 in the United States. Domestic and international competitions will have the option to decide whether to implement the changes starting from the next season (2025/26) or, alternatively, wait until 2026 to do so, as long as the tournaments start after June 1 of this year.

Regarding offside and the controversial 'Wenger Law', the IFAB will implement the proposal related to only signaling an offside if the player is completely ahead of their opponent, without any part of the bodies coinciding "in order to promote attacking football and encourage goal-scoring opportunities". However, the changes will not be implemented worldwide until all necessary tests are completed.