Club World Cup referee uses new rule not seen in football before and it caught the players off guard

A referee enforced a new rule during a Club World Cup fixture on Wednesday, and the players and fans were both confused.

South Korean side Ulsan and South African outfit Mamelodi Sundowns went head-to-head at the Inter & Co Stadium in Orlando, with the Sundowns coming out as 1-0 winners.

And what was a fairly dull affair still caught the attention of fans due to the referee enforcing a new rule.

Sundowns goalkeeper Ronwen Williams held the ball for more than eight seconds, which resulted in referee Clement Turpin awarding the attacking side a corner, in accordance with new rules.

So, how does the new rule work?

Well, back in March, the International Football Association Board (The IFAB) – football’s lawmakers – approved the amendment of Law 12.2.

The IFAB confirmed the change via a statement posted to their website, which read: “The amendment means that if a goalkeeper holds the ball for longer than eight seconds (with the referee using a visual five-second countdown), a corner kick will be awarded to the opposing team (rather than an indirect free kick if a goalkeeper holds the ball for more than six seconds, as per the current Laws).”

How do goalkeepers know when to release the ball?

Goalkeepers will be warned by the referee when they need to release the ball. The ref will raise their hands and perform a visual countdown using their fingers.

Why has the change been made?

In short, lawmakers want to speed the game up.

“Goalkeepers holding on to the ball for too long have been a bane of many people’s lives for quite some time, so some action has been taken,” said Patrick Nelson, the chief executive of the Irish FA, who chaired Ifab’s AGM in Belfast back in March.

“The results of the trials have been very, very positive, so we’re going to move forward and put that into the laws of the game as soon as possible.”

Will this be used in the Premier League?

Yes. The rules are set to be enforced during Premier League matches in the 2025/26 season.

What do referees think?

Pierluigi Collina, the head of FIFA's referee committee, gave his thoughts on the change earlier this month.

"In many leagues, the goalkeeper can tend to keep the ball in his hands for 20 or even 25 seconds, which is a huge amount of time during a match,” said Collina.

“There is nothing entertaining in this.”

What do goalkeepers think?

In March, former England goalkeeper Rob Green told BBC Sport: "Back in the day, there was the six-second rule and that has slowly faded away – I don't know why – I think that was enough of a deterrent. Maybe they are thinking the punishment being a bit more lenient may get things going. It seems a strange one to reintroduce, but if we can get more football in the 90 minutes then I'm all for it.

"As a percentage there's only around a 4% chance of scoring from a corner so it isn't that much of a threat but at the end of the game, the last thing your team-mates want to do is defend a set-piece if you're winning.

"I think we see it every year, they will implement it right from the start but in a couple of years' time we may be having this same conversation."