It has been three decades since the back-pass rule was introduced, changing the course of football forever.
It became clear that football needed widespread changes after the 1990 FIFA World Cup, which saw an average of 2.21 goals per game – a record low that still stands today – and a then-record 16 red cards. Teams would grow accustomed to going up 1-0 and then immediately booting the ball back to their goalkeeper, who would hold onto it for as long as he pleased. In fact, during the Republic of Ireland’s match vs. Egypt, Irish goalkeeper Packie Bonner held the ball for nearly six minutes. This tedious style of play continued in the 1992 UEFA European Championships, with Denmark winning one of the most unexpected titles ever thanks to an unduly defensive style of play. They could take a narrow advantage and then kick the ball back to Peter Schmeichel, who was then free to wind the clock down and waste as much time as possible.
In order to make football more entertaining, the global footballing authorities changed the reward for a victory from two points to three, and they also banned goalkeepers from picking up the ball after it was deliberately kicked to them by a teammate. Five years later, FIFA took it a step further by preventing goalkeepers from picking up the ball after receiving a throw-in. The punishment for violators? An indirect free-kick.
“It’s definitely changed the game for the better and sped things up,” said ex-Manchester United goalkeeper Mark Bosnich of the back pass rule. “I remember when teams used to just score a goal and then turn around from the halfway line and whack it back to their goalkeeper.”
“It’s definitely improved the game’s entertainment value,” added Bosnich. “I always tell young goalkeepers, ‘You’ve got to be in charge when the ball comes to you, whether that’s to your hands or to your feet, and you’ve got to quickly make up your mind. It’s fine if you want to play out from the back, but be sensible – there’s no need to try to play a one-two in front of your own box when a long ball will suffice.’”
Ever since the back-pass rule, teams are scoring more and more goals on average at major tournaments, whilst the role of the goalkeeper has been completely transformed. Goalkeepers can no longer grab the ball with both hands – they need to be able to take a clean touch that doesn’t allow the ball to roll off their feet, they need to be able to dribble and turn out of pressure, and they need to be constantly aware of their surroundings. As opposed to the early ‘90s, when a goalkeeper’s sole job was to keep the ball out of the back of the net, they are now tasked with contributing in possession. It no longer suffices to simply lump it up the pitch and hope that your teammate wins the aerial duel – goalkeepers need to be able to play short and medium-length passes to their teammates, whilst they also need to be able to break the lines and pick out players in advanced areas. It’s why Frans Hoek, the game’s first recognized goalkeeper coach, refers to them not as goalkeepers, but goalplayers.
33 years after the back-pass rule, there are several new changes that could very well impact the next generation of football. On Saturday, the International Football Association Board (IFAB) announced a new rule that goalkeepers who hold onto the ball for longer than eight seconds will concede a corner kick for the opposing team. The current rules and regulations state that a goalkeeper has six seconds to release the ball before the opposing team is awarded an indirect free-kick; instead, they have amended these rules so that it will come into effect for the 2025/26 season. In order to aid the on-field referees, there will be a visual five-second countdown which indicates when the goalkeeper has broken the rule.
The footballing authorities recognized that referees had trouble enforcing the prior six-second rule, perhaps believing that an indirect free kick was too harsh a punishment or that it took far too long to organize an indirect free kick and ensure everyone was in the right place. As such, countless goalkeepers were able to get away with wasting time and didn’t suffer any consequences.
Eager to find a solution, the IFAB trialled the eight-second rule in Premier League 2 as well as other competitions in Italy and Malta. During hundreds of trial matches, the IFAB found just four occasions where goalkeepers were penalized, even with the rule being strictly applied on all but one occasion. As such, it seems that goalkeepers will now be far more cautious before deciding to waste time and concede a corner kick.
The worldwide footballing authorities have long been searching for an answer to curb excessive time-wasting in football. In the 2022 FIFA World Cup, FIFA referees started to heavily police stoppage times in order to factor in time lost during injuries, VAR reviews, goal celebrations and substitutions. The goal was to make the ball stay in play for closer to the 90 minutes that football matches are supposed to last, as opposed to 50 minutes or 60 minutes. It’s why a total of 563 minutes, over nine hours, was added to stoppage time during the group stage. England’s match vs. Iran was the longest match in World Cup group stage history due to 27 minutes of stoppage time.
Can IFAB’s new rules help put a dent in time-wasting? Stay tuned for next season to see the rules in full effect.
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