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The top tiers of English professional soccer are reportedly preparing to introduce a new regulation targeting time-wasting goalkeepers, which would require the manager of a keeper who receives on-field medical attention to temporarily remove one of their outfield players from the pitch.
Efforts to crack down on time-wasting have driven the majority of rule changes implemented by soccer's governing bodies in recent years. Several amendments were made to the sport's regulations ahead of the 2026 World Cup, including a countdown clock applied to goal kicks, throw-ins, and substitutions. Many of these changes are already scheduled to be adopted by the Premier League starting in the 2026–27 season.
However, the full scope of professional English soccer has embraced an even more sweeping rule change by volunteering to trial the latest measure aimed at curbing deliberate time-wasting by goalkeepers, according to a report by BBC Sport.
How Does New Goalkeeper Rule Work?
Players have long been accused of feigning injuries, writhing on the ground to receive medical attention and disrupt the flow of the game before making seemingly miraculous recoveries. To help curb this behavior, a rule was introduced requiring any player who accepted on-field treatment from a physio to wait on the sideline for 60 seconds following the restart. Goalkeepers, however, were still permitted to receive a quick spray and carry on as usual. That loophole has now been eliminated.
Under the updated regulations, once a referee signals for medical personnel to attend to a goalkeeper, the team's manager has 10 seconds to inform the fourth official which outfield player will be temporarily withdrawn from the match for one minute after play resumes. If no player is designated within that window, the team captain is automatically removed. Should the goalkeeper also serve as captain, the outfield player previously nominated to communicate with the referee before the match is the one who must leave the field.
The practice of goalkeepers simulating injuries to engineer tactical stoppages — allowing managers to deliver instructions mid-game — has been on the rise since at least the COVID-19 pandemic hiatus. It became so prevalent last season that Leeds United manager Daniel Farke publicly called out Manchester City's Gianluigi Donnarumma for the behavior.
"We know this happens, but if we don't educate our players in football, what to do in terms of fair play, sportsmanship and you just try to bend the rules to your advantage, you can even do a fake injury in order to do an additional team talk, it's nothing I personally like," he fumed. "We should think about how we can deal with it, and also how we educate it," Farke added. His concerns have now been taken on board.
There are, however, exceptions to this rule. No outfield player will be removed in the following scenarios:
When Will New Rule Be Introduced?
English soccer is currently awaiting final approval from the International Football Association Board (IFAB), the body responsible for amending the official laws of the game that are distributed globally.
If approval is granted in time, the first match to feature this bold new measure would be Tranmere Rovers vs. Rochdale in the Carabao Cup preliminary round on Saturday, Aug. 1.
The first Premier League match subject to this rule, pending IFAB sign-off, is Arsenal's season opener against newly promoted Coventry City on Friday, Aug. 21.
Which Leagues Will Implement New Rule?
This regulation is not limited to the top tier of English men's soccer. The Women's Super League will also adopt the measure, which will be universally applied across the FA Cup, Carabao Cup, the EFL Championship, League One, League Two, and the National League.
Notably, Australia's top flight is also expected to serve as a global testing ground for this goalkeeper crackdown. However, the A-League will not give managers the opportunity to select which outfield player is removed — it will always be the captain who is sacrificed.
No other major league — not La Liga, the Bundesliga, Serie A, or Ligue 1 — has yet volunteered to participate in the trial. The rule will also not apply in the Champions League.
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The tactical ramifications of this sweeping rule change could be enormous, though in practice there may be few instances where the chaos actually plays out. Significant rule changes like this are often either avoided by referees reluctant to cause controversy, or they simply serve their purpose as a deterrent.
Much attention was given to the rule that would award a corner kick if a goalkeeper held the ball for more than eight seconds. Burnley's Martin Dúbravka became the Premier League's first casualty of that rule on the opening weekend of last season, yet it was rarely enforced over the following ten months. There may well be an unsuspecting goalkeeper who goes down with cramp in August, but once one team is penalized, it would be a significant surprise to see others fall into the same trap.