UEFA will enforce an amendment to the Laws of the Game at this summer's Under-21 European Championship, with the opener between Spain and Slovakia on Wednesday being the first game to experience it in action.
Ahead of the 2024/25 campaign, it was announced that a new trial would be introduced to Premier League 2; an Under-21 competition that aims to offer young players an experience that closely replicates the first-team level.
In conjunction with the International Football Association Board (IFAB), which oversees the Laws of the Game, referees were instructed to award a corner kick to the opposing team if the goalkeeper held onto the ball for more than eight seconds.
So, how does that rule work exactly? Well, the referee uses a visible five-second countdown to signal the final portion of the time limit.
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Then, if the goalkeeper holds onto the ball for longer than eight seconds, a corner kick will be taken from the side of the field of play closest to where the goalkeeper was positioned when penalised.
The goalkeeper will be warned for the first offence and cautioned with a yellow card for any subsequent offence.
After a successful trial, UEFA will now enforce the amendment to Law 12.2 of the Laws of the Game from June 11 onwards, which was approved by the International Football Association Board (IFAB) on 1 March 2025.
"Under this new rule, if a goalkeeper holds the ball for more than eight seconds, the referee will award a corner kick to the opposing team," UEFA said in a statement.
"This replaces the previous sanction of an indirect free kick for holding the ball beyond six seconds. The referee will also use a visible five-second countdown to signal the final portion of the time limit."
UEFA also released a set of guidelines for referees to implement the new rule.
-) The eight-second count begins when the goalkeeper has full control of the ball and is not being challenged by an opposing player.
-) The referee will visibly count down the final five seconds, ensuring the goalkeeper can see the countdown.
-) If opponents begin to pressure or obstruct the goalkeeper during the countdown, the referee will stop the count and award an indirect free kick in favour of the goalkeeper.
In an episode of Stick To Football last year, Howard Webb, the Chief Refereeing Officer for PGMOL, discussed the standard of refereeing around the UK and the impact of VAR in the Premier League.
He also touched on the rule that was being trialled in Premier League 2.
“In Premier League 2, they’re trialing something around the goalkeeper holding the ball for more than six seconds," he said. "If they hold it for eight, and don’t release it, it goes to a corner to the other team. After three seconds, the referee counts down, and if the goalkeeper is daft enough to hold onto it, it’ll be a corner.
"That avoids the ridiculous situation where you have an indirect free kick in the six-yard box, and players are chasing out.”
Gary Neville, a regular on the podcast, was a fan of the potential rule change. "I like that," he said. "I think we all like that."
The former Manchester United defender was also vocal about goalkeepers taking too long on the ball. "Howard, the biggest delay in the game is when goalkeepers take longer than the six seconds with the ball," he said.
"We talk about delaying the game, a lad like Declan Rice kicked the ball away a touch and to be fair I get the rules, but that’s wasting a millisecond.
"Then you’ve got a situation where goalkeepers are holding the ball for nine, ten seconds, sometimes 13 or 14 seconds – they’re wasting six or seven seconds every time. That never gets pulled up and that rule is still in. It drives my crazy."
Jack Kenmare