Why Football Is Banning Towels

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The long throw can be one of football’s most feared weapons. But thanks to a change in the English Football League rules to combat time wasting, the long throw is at risk.
From 2023/24 using a towel to dry the ball before a long throw is banned. But why? Will it really make a difference?
Written by Nancy Froston. Illustrated by Marco Bevilacqua.
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[@GardEngebretsen]

This isn't going to reduce time wasting. Very few throw ins are already long throws, and the vast majority of time wasting from throw-ins does not come as a result of long throws or people drying off the ball.

[@rey7616]

true, hopefully they'll be more ball placement around the field as stated in the video so that players can get dry ball immediately. then again, time wasting will always be there. smh

[@Taraferreday]

I dunno I’ve been to a few league one games where bigger teams spend ages drying the ball allowing there team to all run to the box

[@Kanbei11]

Welcome to the rule makers where they tinker around the edges instead of making actual changes for the better of the game. Tifo mention timewasting here but that's already a yellow card offence but you'd be forgiven for thinking that it wasn't given how rarely they're given.

[@jamiehill2671]

Most of the time wasting on throw ins comes from deciding who will throw in the ball, and standing there trying to figure out where to throw it in. Maybe figuring out some better throw in procedure and time limit, like there is in Basketball, may speed things up. That, and actually enforcing some of the rules (carding players earlier in the game for time wasting).

[@georgemanize]

if they want to get rid of time wasting the ref should give yellows left and right even for the smallest amount of time wasting.

[@arshavindrameh32]

I understand the ban on towels as no other aids are allowed, but long throws are no different to corners, and if a team can utilise them to their advantage, then why not.

[@drunkenhobo8020]

Nah they're very different. Corners you kick with your feet, whilst long throws you use your hands.

[@Phantom-ez4zv]

Drunkken@ You stating the obvious

[@chickentikkamosalah]

@@drunkenhobo8020WOW! Breaking news!

[@danarseptiyanto4066]

I don't feel like FA is discouraging the long throws, but just make it fair for everyone else

[@crispykneecaps7209]

As a goalkeeper I can say that facing a long throw is much more intimidating than a corner.

[@Kanbei11]

Timewasting has been an offence for as long as I can remember. Why not simply book those players who take excess time drying the ball after a throw in?

[@rezaimran98]

Booking a player also takes time. So they wanna save as much time as possible.

[@4glassmilk635]

@@rezaimran98 yea but if you book them they'll be less inclined to ever do it, so after a while you see very few players time wasting

[@Kanbei11]

@@rezaimran98 That's still a short term thing though as players would start facing disciplinary action, especially when they started to get second yellows for it. The main thing I fear is that enforcement would be selective, especially with the quality of officiating last season

[@jayme3181]

@@Kanbei11 They brought in a rule to address ball in play at the World Cup that led to 20 minutes of added on time. That was their preferred idea, this is the next one. These people are morons.

[@browngaymethodistjesuschri1361]

Time wasting is an offence? Mind proving such a crazy accusation please?

[@whufc-essex]

Fans: "we want competent refs" Authorities: "lEtS bAn ToWeLlZ"

[@Kanbei11]

Welcome to the football authorities doing nothing whilst wanting to look like they're doing something.

[@kyal]

Please tell me how we’re going to get “competent refs” when we already have England’s best referees officiating in the premier league. Get rid of existing referees = get worse, more inexperienced referees in return.

[@whufc-essex]

@@kyal current refs are diabolical, it shouldn't be too hard to train better refs

[@zinetx]

@@kyal If the best refs in England just magically forget to draw a line in VAR, literally their own job, and make the other team lose 2 points in a title race, then I'd bet on using more inexperienced but younger refs.

[@browngaymethodistjesuschri1361]

@@kyalyou’re not watching the same sport

[@vinylbuff1515]

Only 54 minutes of actual play time in a 90 minute game is insane, time wasting is a plague

[@samuelmanley1]

If UEFA want the games to have a full 90 minutes with the ball in play, then get every team to have extra long extra time added on like in the Qatar World Cup, yeah, it got comical, but at least the ball was being played for 90 minutes

[@mcsqueeb187]

I thought it was a good change, make time wasting pointless and teams will stop doing it.

[@NeilAlvin]

or stop the clock when out of play, but I suspect this is more about TV time slots than actual playing time. They want a game to be over in 2 and a half to 3 hours max. When TV/Broadcasting is where you make a ton of money, then you have to pander to them.

[@thedogowl591]

Honestly it kind of adds an extra layer of tension imo.

[@nathanjm000]

@@NeilAlvinthink about baseball They have this ghost runner no one asked for for the same reason

[@NostalgiNorden]

"Ball-Children"....lol.

[@tdyerwestfield]

The changes in the last 3 seasons to gameplay have all resulted in reduced and restricted goal creation opportunities.

[@anthonyduffy6953]

They are determined to remove the magic of football

[@thedigreguy]

fr tho.... goalkeepers no longer allowed to play mind games or celebrate after saving a pen.... uefa changing the ucl format.... this.... we should boycott football until they revert atleast some of these changes, but that's unlikely

[@sehu1291]

All changes since VAR

[@sahkogile]

@@thedigreguy thats why people abandoning football after Covid

[@RaedVS]

Added time in the World Cup seemed to be on point. I'm surprised it hasn't been implemented in all the major leagues afterwards.

[@BeWe1510]

Because it was horrible. There was no sense anymore how far the game has progressed. Normally once the 90th minute approaches everyone knows it’s hard clutch time now but at the World Cup there was suddenly a third of a half still to play, in a game that had just normal amounts of interruptions. Plus increasing added time into the absurd only addresses half the problem, that of the low effective playing time but breaking the flow of the game is still a thing and imo that is the bigger issue

[@Kanbei11]

Added time quickly dropped off once it got to the knockout stages of the WC. It also doesn't do much to keep the ball in play and you end up with more interruptions Added time is also opaque to spectators, we don't see where the ref gets it from and there's the potential for abuse (I'd argue it's already being abused) You could eliminate added time entirely by stopping the clock when the ball is out of play, if opta can get the stats then match officials can

[@RaedVS]

@@Kanbei11 Yeah but then matches would drag on for hours on end like the other sports basically, won't be a 90 minute game anymore. All the tactics, training, approach, everything else has to change to accommodate that.

[@midknight]

Because the premier league is controlled by bookies

[@adamcetinkent]

"Hard clutch time". Jesus, how embarrassing...

[@Stelios78910]

0:05 “The long throw can be one of footballs most feared weapons, particularly in England” *war flashbacks to England vs Iceland 2016*

[@samcooper1579]

But they can still waste time by drying it on their shirt... If you really want to address time-wasting, switch to a stop-start clock like Rugby. Or, punish players for time wasting at the first instance, rather than waiting until late on in the game to give a meaningless yellow

[@booradley6832]

"we cant switch to a system that makes sense because its tradition" "It would mess up tv schedules if games could go on for irregular amounts of time. I pay good money for that license" Sorry just cutting off responses before they happen.

[@BOABModels]

23/24 - hand driers installed around the advertising boards in the Premier League stadiums.

[@M4NA5]

Because players no longer wanna get high.

[@thalente8074]

I see you're a man of culture 😏

[@drex5160]

Took me a while to get this 😅 Context for the folks who dont know: he's talking about Mr. Towlie from South Park

[@ricochetpig]

So there’s been a Towlie ban?

[@reactieciudat4726]

I didn't get what you said n1^^3|\

[@MM-ep2zq]

Don't forget to bring a towel...

[@faiselbutt2944]

What if a team wore a kit made of towel material?

[@innocento.1552]

Maybe the regulation should be on the conduct of ball-boys, and have them dry out the extra ball before the one in play goes out, and be fast the giving to BOTH teams.

[@uriustosh]

If managers were carded for time wasting by ball boys, then there would never be an issue with ball boys ever again.

[@perparker5011]

Did you not watch the video? There's gonna be footballs placed around the pitch ready to be picked

[@kupus6622]

It's ball children apparently now...

[@salopiansessions8326]

Reckon you could count on a ball boy or ball girl to dry a ball to the same degree for both their home team and the visitors? I'm not so sure personally...

[@RunningRugby4]

Yeah, what's the big deal. I genuinely love alliteration and weave it in my writings wherever and whenever i can but it's not worth potentially excluding half the population is it?

[@yeet-dv8yk]

Westin Mckennie dried the ball off on a photographer’s shirt 😂😂😂

[@apextheracer2022]

and everyone got mad about it whcih honestly annoyed me. photographer didnt really seem to mind, but he probbaly shouldve asked before doing so

[@bbvestieofthemagbloodaltar7665]

I assume they have some places to keep the balls dry cuz you are going to have to wonder what happens when it rains.

[@thegreathadoken6808]

That's what she said, too.

[@Kjkjkjkjkjkjkj99]

The FA should also be looking at goalkeeper’s time wasting ethics after gathering the ball/goal kick. Some of the teams are notorious in time wasting (eg: pickford)

[@robertspencer2516]

Anyone remember Ian Hutchinson at Chelsea, think in the 70’s. He could reach the far post from the halfway line. His last minute throw caused panic in the Leeds defence in the cup final replay at Old Trafford leading to Webbs winner in what has become to be known as a notoriously violent game.

[@cam5556]

That would be 79 metres; 20 metres further than the world record for a football throw-in.

[@cam5556]

Just found a video of him, and it seems your comment may have embellished the details slightly. He was well into the opposition half, and the ball reached the near post (where it was headed onto the far post). Still a very impressive throw though.

[@MIKhan-mh6fs]

@@cam5556 pls attach link don't wanna search

[@MyNameIsMaxLo]

@@cam5556 please give us the keyword to the video you're talking about. youtube won't allow link to be provided on the comment section.

[@thedogowl591]

I mean if a team really wanted to continue doing this, couldn't they just design a top, shorts or socks with a small towelling area. Potentially even only the people taking throw-in's would need them.

[@justawatchin2]

some kind of fabric-made tshirt perhaps? one where you could potentially roll a ball in the front fabric to dry the ball?

[@12000gp]

That was my 1st thought, a lining inside the front of the shirt maybe

[@kieranb7582]

Just wait for those towels being accidentally but yet strategically placed...

[@aidanmagill6769]

I see the bureaucrats are justifying their existence.

[@JabbarTV1]

time waste will only go when clock is stopped during any stopping

[@jazzx251]

double-edged sword That would mean a "countdown clock" - where a brilliant goal from 45 yards is scored, just 1 millisecond too late (verified by VAR) Some of the most exciting moments in a bad game of football come when there's an attacking set-piece at the end of the game. Technically, even the "added time" is over - but the referee ALWAYS allows one last chance for the attacking team to score a goal. That's because "added time" is kind of loose - I think it may be unique to football. I never want to see a brilliant goal disallowed because the time ran out exactly 1 millisecond before the ball crossed the line. (which would take 10 minutes to verify in the VAR booth, ironically) There's loads of much better ways of stopping time-wasting: Throw-ins ... don't want to take your throw-in promptly? That's a "foul throw", you get a yellow card, and the throw-in goes the other way, as with any other foul throw Goal kicks ... don't want to take a goal kick promptly? You get a yellow card, and it's a corner to the opposition You'd be amazed at how quick the game would be if these rules were implemented.

[@jackanory-balamory]

I was at that game mentioned. Posh and west brom. The crowd wasn't happy. Everyone I throw in was taken they would spend a good thirty seconds drying the ball before okay resumed. Wasted so much time. It was made worse by the fact that the baggies nicked a Late winner in what was a close game.

[@morganfellows8182]

This is one of the most entertaining videos about throw-ins I've ever watched.

[@sitheach]

If they're so concerned about timewasting why cant they adopt a rugby-style clock that can be paused and resumed during stops in play?

[@ViolentCabbage-ym7ko]

Maybe because the game can drag on for 2 hours including advertisements. Besides, it makes the extra time pointless

[@Veodin]

@@ViolentCabbage-ym7ko The usual proposal is to move to a 60 min clock and get rid of extra time. There is talk of trials taking place to test it out.

[@ViolentCabbage-ym7ko]

@@Veodin The problem with making drastic changes is that, it will come to a point that it becomes unrecognizable. Changing the timing from 90 mins to 60 mins and no extra time is a big deal because endurance of the players is also a key factor in football, along with skills and teamwork. Even changing the number of players in a team or shorten the field drastically can impact the outcome of a game.

[@beaver_warrior]

​@@ViolentCabbage-ym7ko Bro the game is exactly the same. The only difference is the clock stops. If you've got the ball you can still take a quick throw. The only difference is the winning team can't gain an advantage by keeping the ball out of play. It's insane that you can seal a victory in football by not playing football.

[@veedix]

Finally! Couldn't stand watching the sport anymore with all those towels.

[@jotaroismywaifu]

great content informative stuff

[@jesthomas2199]

Prem teams really worrying about them Brentford throws 😂😂

[@JabbarTV1]

Brentford play the most irritating style of football, stop play merchants

[@jesthomas2199]

​@@JabbarTV1lol it's part of the game, and that's what makes it the beautiful game. The tactics teams have to come up with to counter long throws adds to the flavour of the game.

[@mizuki4002]

what does "play merchant" even mean

[@SilentYesEvil]

Wrexham's path up to the top has been halted.

[@nenemuy]

⁠​⁠​⁠​⁠@@mizuki4002 He meant “stop play merchants”, so he’s basically complaining about the game of football itself being played a certain way by a team.

[@SlimeTheHow]

“Towelling off ceremony” 😂

[@notn0t]

You know what would stop time wasting? Stop the clock when the ball is out of play. You also get rid of the need for injury time, which is seldom awarded consistently. Yes, I am a rugby fan.

[@zekechap]

"ball children" hahahahhahahahhaha

[@michaelberlin8526]

this video has everything, history, stats, big personalities, and linens. vive le tifo!

[@darkblueturbo]

Everyone mentions Rory Delap at Stoke, but I'm sure the OG long thrower with towel was Dave Challinor at Tranmere Rovers, which helped them on a giant killing cup run to the League Cup final. Almost a decade before Rory Delap. In fact, a quick google to check my facts before I make a wally of myself reveals a video of Challinor assisting from a throw at Stoke's Britannia... I wonder where Delap got the idea from... :)

[@andycai1986]

If FA are really serious about more ball playing time in 90mins, they should ban any players 10 games for faking injury and time wasting ... That would add 25mins to the game for actual playing .

[@dominicsay8090]

If we're worried about time wasting and how much of a match the ball is actually in play for, just pause the time while the balls not in play and that solves literally everything. Why is this still a debate??

[@davidchandra8722]

Then a football game will be extended to aprox 2 hours which will affecting television schedule etc. Unless they also reduce the actual playtime to 60 minutes (30 each half)

[@zzizou82]

Because the game will be played for 2 hours +. It will become a baseball or american football match. Too much for the players and telespectators…

[@bilalsadain]

Only if the clock stops at 60 instead of 90. Otherwise matches will be 2 hours+ (not counting half time)

[@GuinessOriginal]

@@davidchandra8722sod the TV, they have 3 hours of analysis after each game anyway

[@loading9110]

​@@davidchandra8722Fuck the TV companies. Maybe less matches on TV would encourage people to go to an actual game and watch their local teams. Some of the kids you see walking around in PSG shirts might actually stop being glory hunters too.

[@rgqwerty63]

Surely its gonna waste even more time, since drying the ball with your sweaty shirt is slower and less efficient than a dry towel

[@_Chairman_Meow]

If you’re the home to team and you like doing long throws you could have your ball boys drying and keeping dry the other balls around the pitch and just give your throw in taker an already dry one rather than giving them the ball that just went out of play

[@boyprevos4464]

A kit manufacturer should include a towel patch on the shirts so the players can dry it.

[@apextheracer2022]

the towel would get wet too, unless youre talking about under the shirt

[@joshpilsworth3882]

The back in track at 4:28 sounds incredibly like Dilemma - Nelly

[@chrisgarry22]

Right now, somewhere, Tony Pulis is punching air

[@jorjenn]

Towelling football shirts? I’m into it

[@ralphades]

Throw ins are already difficult enough for the possessing side, because of man marking & a numerical disadvantage. Now you want to mitigate a potential attacking threat as well? I hate time wasting as much as everyone else, but this will be so insignificant. The only real way to fix the issue is unfortunately to use a 60 minute stopping clock, but that will never happen.

[@trunter20]

No way that you just said "ball-children" hahahahaha

[@MAdDyMatt]

In case someone decides to whip a victim with the end of the towel causing severe pain.

[@007ryanwilliams]

I remember that West Brom game, that hoodie should've been awarded the man of the match given how much it was used. Was completely ridiculous.

[@DavidFromTampa]

I could see a player switch out his jersey during a stoppage in the second half so they have a drier jersey to dry off the ball for a throw in.

[@chorne1805]

Sports clothing manufacturers are going to start making undershirts from the same material as the Shanta swimmers use lol

[@Montycat78]

“Ball children” I know it’s probably the right thing to say now…but it just sounds wrong 😂

[@ananthkrishnas3395]

Is ball children really replacing ball boys? Lol

[@arkadye]

At Wimbledon tennis they refer to "ball kids" as a catch ask for "ball boys and ball girls".

[@ananthkrishnas3395]

@@arkadye sounds better imo

[@martinw2235]

Don't most players these days just wipe the ball off under their shirt? This seems like such a minor move to try to move the needle. They should give keepers more yellows for time wasting before they try stuff like this.

[@AbhishekDantale]

What is the chance that players who can throw long just use wrist bands instead of towels ? Pretty good substitute for a towel.

[@kevinmccarthy8696]

Will this include a keepers towel for drying gloves for grip?

[@cedarstuff]

Premier League - ball in play for 55 minutes out of 90, and yet TV companies STILL show replays while the ball is in play. Criminals.

[@AFMakers]

Understand this coming in however, should have just implemented the rule they used at the World Cup regarding time wasting as well as the offside technology they have in the CL

[@peterkeleher]

4:30 that is hilarious

[@donkosaurus]

i hope teams try to work around it by wearing big socks with towel sections around the top, or vest that can dry

[@Hadar1991]

To be honest I think that there can be even more time wasting now, because players will dry their balls on clothes and it can take even longer

[@edwinfigueroajr6590]

That’s what I was thinking Kieran Tierney dries the ball off every throw he gets and I’ve seen him uses his shirt mostly

[@victorsefan]

Its barbaric, i've alyways dried my balls on towels

[@josemur8799]

Drying their balls haha

[@fazzaman123]

1:02 'Annual AGM'

[@SethBartonSEF]

As others have commented, there's no rule against players wearing gloves, and something relatively thin with a grippy surface should do the job. Anything which gets rid of time wasting is a good change (at least until I can drink lager in my seat like a civilized person)

[@hatepallo]

Similar gloves american football players use would fit perfectly! Also, while it is not allowed to take an item from the audience, the players could give the ball to the audience to be dried.

[@zzizou82]

Gloves with grips are too sticky. The release will not be that good and too much energy will be lost for the thrower. Dry hand dry ball in my opininon is the only solution. I’m surprised nobody used talc… Solution to get above the law is : ball boy having always having a dry ball, and player hiding a min towel in his shirt or shorts

[@GuinessOriginal]

@@zzizou82use chalk. They’ve banned towels, they haven’t banned chalk

[@johnmcgimpsey1825]

@@hatepallo If I'm the referee, a player giving the ball to a fan to dry is an instant caution for delaying the restart.

[@AM2K2]

@@zzizou82 Stoke got caught having towels stitched into their tops if I remember correctly

[@mattgehringer8554]

Brentford utilize long throws quite well

[@carlos_takeshi]

They tactical innovation with long throws I wonder about, one that I wonder why we haven't seen more of, is the ball over the top. The throw in is one of the situations where, by definition, offside is impossible. So if you've got someone who can do a long throw, why not, every once in a while, just take off towards goal and have that guy throw it over everyone's heads. I've seen it taken advantage of one time, where our long throw specialist got the ball boy to give him the ball really quick, then basically threw a long lofted through ball to the onrushing forward. Normally, he would have been way offside, but it was a throw-in, so it didn't matter, and he went on to score.

[@noeldown1952]

So they can't use a towel from outside the pitch, or any item supplied by the crowd. Can they wear a towel then, like they do in the NFL?

[@charbelsaadeh2029]

"Towels banned" sounds more like a South Park episode than a Tifo football video

[@digitalfootballer9032]

Only 54 minutes of actual gameplay, and these crybabies demanded two extra substitutions in a match? I remember back when you got one substitution. Before that you got zero and if someone got injured bad enough to come out of the game tough luck you just played a man short. Granted that was pretty extreme the other way, but i think three substitutes was adequate, especially considering how much time they are actually playing. I wouldn't doubt that time wasting was worse back in the days of no subs, but even as old as I am that was before my time.

[@pavedgravel]

You think this will effect the material they use for the kits? Ultra grippy shirts?

[@HotBranch]

Interesting new wrinkle to the rules. One question though: would players be allowed to wear gloves with a tacky surface to help increase their grip on a throw-in? I'm thinking the gloves used by receivers in American football where some guys can catch balls one handed. Don't know that wearing gloves over the course of a game will be especially comfortable, but I could see the time wasted in drying the ball with a towel would be similar to the time required to put on a pair of gloves before a throw-in.

[@ajw9533]

I've not watched one of these videos for a while, but this title got me.

[@Fuzzie_Dunlop968]

"Ball children", ffs. 😂😂

[@Ccccc-mi3tr]

The rule makers want football to be played one way, no tactical differences, no strategy, just pass around the back for 90 mins. what a bore fest

[@shabaanmarijani1650]

Have they considered a combination of cards for time wasting AND a stopping clock?!

[@mrlimey2419]

Shout out to Towlie from Southpark from being part of the intro graphic

[@W1ese1]

The law does only prevent players from drying the balls. Ball kids drying the balls before placing them on the cones does not seem like it's prohibited?

[@pratt17648]

New soccer fan, im hoping some can explain this to me. Why dont they just stop the clock when the ball goes out of bounds or when a foul is called and start it back when its kicked or thrown in? We have the technology...

[@robbysiregar8341]

Ben Tozer really lives up his name

[@seandelap8587]

Out of all the things to be concerned about they choose towels seriously like

[@fpldirectory6753]

Towelling panel in a shirt, sorted

[@GustavoCaucayo]

The time wasting excuse is laughable, Pretending that long throw ins are even a drop in the bucket is just ignoring 90% of what happens in a football match

[@lovelovelovehappyhappyhappy]

Thank you

[@zaladatv]

new uniforms with a towel patch are on the way

[@nhlakaniphozulu1533]

In South Africa the is Ryan Rae he used to wear gloves

[@TheKrostiman]

The whole delap thing led to 5 assists? That’s what the drama was about?

[@2and2makes3]

5 assists by the letter of the law. There were plenty more goals scored where Delap wasn't technically the assister, not to mention own goals, goals scored after the clearance, and the general chaos it caused.

[@Jonathanizer]

5 assists in one season. That's not so bad, especially since some of those throw ins were not converted directly, so he created the danger, but did not get a scorer point. 5 assists in a season is above average for PL players as is, but just from throw ins, that is definitively noteworthy.

[@TheKrostiman]

@@2and2makes3 I still think the stress was bigger than the impact on actual numbers.

[@MargotDobbie]

Dammn de laps throws were mental

[@Lawsyboy]

Just make a patch on the front of the shirt that's towel material

[@astralchimp]

Instead of going to the manicurist they'll have to do some gardening at their huge estates and earn some calluses to achieve some proper purchase on the ball

[@Ilike2killnoobs]

Ball children sounds so so bad. I don't know what would be better though. Maybe ball kids? Orb weens? Young ballers?

[@BrownDeluxe]

dont forget to bring a towel!

[@5aturnia]

Simple solution. Glue a big patch of microfibre to each thigh of your compression shorts.

[@dundabird3203]

If they want to reduce time wasting, simple. Yellow cards for time wasting and don't be coy with sending offs. Time wasting teams will quickly have to start playing football a lot more with a legitimate threat of defending with 10 men.

[@d.b.cooper1]

“Ball children” lmao. There’s a first. Reminds me of Sam smiths “Fisherthem” not fishermen.

[@markolitvic6981]

Adrian punching the wall rn

[@timothydexter4027]

This guy actually said ballchildren. Just say ballboys or ballgirls. Its like saying cowpeople instead of cowboys and cowgirls.

[@Samuel_-hi1vg]

Finally the powers that be are focussing on the issues that really matter

[@aturboford1]

I wanna see ball boys with towel material longsleeve shirts now, solely to circumvent this

[@madebylewis]

The captain of a team should also get a yellow card on a second offence of a teams time-wasting (along with more than 2/3 players crowding a ref)

[@HH0ps]

What about the towels keepers bring with them to their goal?

[@peteraleksandrovich5923]

Time wasting is a trivial problem idiots want to solve with explosives. Attempts to micromanage seconds (similar to the microscopic examinations of VAR) are gonna turn soccer into the NFL, a compilation of arcane rules and refs scratching their own balls. A yellow for persistent wasting is sufficient punishment.

[@Dreyno]

They really have to look at stopping the clock like rugby. I’m not sure how you would end the game though because even in rugby play can continue for ages when the clock goes red. In football it could be even longer.

[@adistiraaa]

Like arhan Pratama throw in. Far enough 20-35 meter throw.

[@MrGrombie]

Just start carding people for wasting time and see how many people do this in the future. Just like floppers. This just seems to put a band aid on the problem.