The International Football Association Board (IFAB) is considering rule changes that could reshape some key aspects of football before the 2026 World Cup. These proposals, while not revolutionary, aim to address ongoing concerns about fairness and officiating in the sport.<\/p>\n
One of the most significant changes IFAB is exploring relates to penalty kicks. Currently, after a goalkeeper saves a penalty, the attacking team can attempt to score from any rebound. IFAB\u2019s potential new rule would declare the ball “dead” immediately after the goalkeeper makes a save, removing the chance for follow-up attempts. This would isolate penalties as single, decisive moments, also eliminating disputes related to players encroaching in the penalty area during kicks.<\/p>\n
In addition to the penalty modifications, IFAB is reviewing the scope of the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) system. Presently, VAR can intervene only in cases involving goals, penalties, and direct red cards. IFAB is considering expanding this to include other critical decisions such as corners and second yellow cards, thereby giving VAR greater influence over game-defining moments.<\/p>\n
While these proposed adjustments have not found universal approval\u2014UEFA has already expressed reservations\u2014they underscore the ongoing evolution of football rules. The goal remains to refine the game without complicating its fundamental simplicity, famously noted by Liverpool legend Bill Shankly: \u201cfootball is a simple game complicated by idiots.\u201d<\/p>\n
These ideas will be closely watched as football prepares for one of its biggest global stages.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
IFAB considers new rules on penalties and VAR to refine football ahead of the 2026 World Cup.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":721,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[172],"tags":[59,316],"class_list":["post-722","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-epl","tag-featured","tag-var"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/722","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=722"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/722\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/721"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=722"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=722"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=722"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}