The 100-minute match experience that riled even the most docile of football fans during last winter’s Qatar World Cup is set to rear its head once more when the Lionesses make their way Down Under.
Fifa has told referees involved in this summer’s Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand that any delays to play caused by goal celebrations, substitutions, injury treatments, penalties, red cards and those pesky video assistant refereeing interventions should be added on at the end of each half, according to PA news.
The instructions echo the directive Fifa followed at last year’s men’s finals in Qatar, where matches routinely exceeded the 100-minute mark.
England’s 6-2 group stage victory against Iran lasted a record-breaking 117 minutes, with over 14 minutes of stoppage time added onto the first half and over 13 in the second. An average of 11 minutes was added to matches in Qatar.
While time-wasting has yet to be so strictly enforced on the domestic front, Sarina Wiegman and co. are set to be in store for similarly lengthy slogs.
Officials have also been dealt instruction to be proactive at restarts in play in regard to throw-ins, free-kicks and corners. The six-second rule governing how long goalkeepers can keep hold of the ball before releasing it will also be strictly enforced.
Those who recall the Lionesses’ 2-1 European championship final triumph over Germany last summer will remember the team's 11-minute time-wasting masterclass after Chloe Kelly's game-winner, featuring keeper Mary Earps wasting 20 seconds over a goal kick and centurion Lucy Bronze relishing a 26-second throw-in.
It was a display that would've made Diego Simeone blush, but that looks likely to be snuffed out by Fifa's newest rules.
In a shift from the men's finals, referees in Australia and New Zealand have also been told to announce the final decision after an on-field review, explaining to the crowd in the stadium and the television audience how they reached their final decision and why.
Those VAR decisions that do not require on-field reviews, such as offside calls, will not be communicated verbally, though illustrations of contested calls will appear on stadium screens. Semi-automated offside technology is also set to be utilised.
There is also instruction for officials to restrict goalkeepers from distracting kickers during a penalty shoot-out following the infamous antics of Argentina’s Emi Martinez. Officials will deliver a warning, followed by a yellow card and a red card.
While keepers are unlikely to be sent off during a shoot-out, given yellow cards are wiped before a penalty shoot-out, should such a situation transpire, an outfield player already on the pitch would need to replace them.
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