Strict New Timewasting Rules

GM football fans. It’s Monday, Mar. 03 - a crackdown on goalkeeper timewasting, Norway keeps VAR, and everything else you need to know. Forwarded this email? Sign up here.

Enjoy reading Route One? Share with a friend using this link.

KEY FIXTURES

FA Cup Fifth Round: Nottingham Forest vs. Ipswich Town, 19:30 / 14:30. Forest are unbeaten at home in their last eight matches but have taken one point from their last nine available in the Premier League. Meanwhile, Ipswich are winless in their last 15 games away at Forest and lost 1-0 at the City Ground in November. The winner of this match will travel to Brighton in the quarter-finals.

Editor’s note: The FA Cup quarter-final draw has already taken place ahead of today’s game. See the draw results here.

Results…

FA Cup: Newcastle 1-2 Brighton | Man Utd 1-1 Fulham (Fulham win 4-3 on pens)
La Liga: Leganes 1-0 Getafe | Barcelona 4-0 Sociedad | Mallorca 1-1 Alaves (League Table)
Scottish Premiership: Hibernian 2-1 Hearts | Aberdeen 2-2 Dundee Utd (League Table)
WSL: Man Utd 2-0 Leicester | Villa 0-2 Everton | Palace 0-1 Liverpool | Spurs 1-2 Man City | Brighton 2-2 Chelsea | Arsenal 4-3 West Ham (League Table)

TOP TALKING POINTS

New Timewasting Rules

Referees will award corners–not indirect free-kicks–if goalkeepers waste time by holding onto the ball for more than eight seconds from next season. The International Football Association Board (IFAB), the body that made the decision, expects all major international competitions and domestic leagues to adopt the changes. The new rule will be first used in this summer’s Club World Cup.

IFAB have trialled the change, for a five-second count, in youth leagues in England and Italy, as well as Malta’s top flight this season. Referees raise their arm and then bring it down to their side like the second hand on a clock to indicate a countdown. The counting begins when the goalkeeper has “effective possession” of the ball. IFAB claims that only four corners have been awarded in more than 400 games.

Pierluigi Collina, the chairman of FIFA’s referees committee, told reporters that the trials on the eight-second rule in Italy had been hugely successful. Across 80 under-20 top-flight matches in Italy, goalkeepers held the ball a total of 868 times and released it within five seconds on more than three-quarters of the time.

See which Premier League teams time-waste the most here.

Norway Keeps VAR

Norwegian football has decided to keep using Video Assistant Refereeing (VAR) despite its professional clubs voting to discontinue the system earlier this year. The technology was formally introduced in Norway’s top division in 2023 and has been the subject of fan protests.

In January, 19 of 32 clubs in Norway’s first and second divisions voted to scrap VAR. On Saturday, the Norway Football Federation (NFF) assembly–in which all 450 of its member clubs, including amateur and grassroots clubs–voted on whether to maintain VAR. The motion to retain VAR passed with 321 votes in favour to 129 for scrapping the technology.

Since the initial vote, the NFF has defended the use of VAR. In January, NFF president Lise Klaveness said the best thing for Norwegian football is to "maintain and develop" VAR, rather than scrapping it all together.

La Liga Title Race Shifts

Barcelona’s likelihood of winning La Liga has massively increased to a 47.7% chance, according to Opta’s latest predictions. This follows their 4-0 win over Real Sociedad. Hansi Flick’s side is now a point clear of second-place Atletico Madrid and three points above Real Madrid—see the La Liga table here.

Carlo Ancelotti admitted that his side’s 2-1 defeat to Real Betis on Saturday could prove “costly” in the title race. Former Real midfielder Isco scored the winner for Betis—he slotted a penalty and celebrated against his former club (see here). It’s the fourth time in their last five matches that Ancelotti’s side has dropped points. Opta now projects Real has a 24.9% chance of winning the league with 12 matches left of the season. That’s down from 44.2% from the previous Matchweek.

Atletico’s 1-0 win over Athletic Club (match report) means their chances of winning the league has risen to 27.3%–up from 15.2%. Argentine forward Julian Alvarez scored the winner, taking his goal tally to 21 in all competitions this season.

POLL

Do you support the new rule giving a corner for goalkeeper timewasting?

Leave your initials if you'd like to be featured in tomorrow's edition.

ON THE BALL

Europe

> Crystal Palace chairman Steve Parish calls the ‘tackle’ on Jean-Philippe Mateta “the most reckless challenge on a football pitch I think I’ve ever seen” (See challenge/viewer discretion advised) | Rodri has returned to individual training after the ACL injury he suffered in September (More) | Referee David Coote has been banned from exercising any UEFA refereeing activity until 30 June 2026, following scandals (More)

> Fenerbahce has filed a lawsuit against Galatasaray for claiming their manager Jose Mourinho was racist; the claim amounts to 1 million 907 thousand Turkish liras ($52,000), a reference to the year Fenerbahce was founded in (1907) (More)

> Chelsea Women maintain their unbeaten run in the Women’s Super League following a 2-2 draw away at Brighton (League Table); USWNT and world-record signing Naomi Girma made her first start (More)

> Federico Dimarco’s free-kick salvaged a point for Inter Milan; they are now a point clear at the top of the Serie A (Watch)

> Paris Saint-Germain have gone 16 points clear of the Ligue 1 table after a dominant 4-1 win over LOSC Lille (More); Lionel Messi openly admits to not enjoying his time at PSG (More)

Americas

> Houston Dynamo have refunded matchday tickets against Inter Miami after Lionel Messi didn’t travel to the match (More) | San Diego FC coach Mikey Varas expressed disappointment after their club’s inaugural home match was marred by homophobic chants (More); see the Conference Standings (More)

> Wilfred Zaha makes his debut for Charlotte in their 2-0 win over Atlanta United; Zaha bagged a goal and assist (Watch)

> River Plate missed an opportunity to take first place in Group B of the Argentine Primera Division Apertura tournament with a 2-0 home defeat to Estudiantes (More); Rosario Central take top spot (League Table)

Rest of the World

> Fifa president Gianni Infantino has revealed he would like to see Russia return to play in the World Cup in the future (More)

> The Asian Champions League Elite moves into the knockout phase from today; Al-Nassr and Cristiano Ronaldo face Iran’s Esteghlal; Al-Hilal, who have won the competitions four times, will face Uzbekistan's Pakhtakor (More)

ROUTERS’ VOICE

Friday’s Poll: Gerard Pique believes teams shouldn’t be awarded points in a 0-0 draw. Would this make football more exciting or unnecessarily complicated?

🟨 🟨 🟨 🟨 ⬜️ ⬜️ 🍿 Entertaining... (36%)

🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🥱 Unnecessary... (57%)

🟨 🟨 ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ✍️ Other (write in!)... (7%)

Your punditry takes:

🍿 B.W: “You would rarely have a 0-0 draw if no points are given. Instead of playing ole at the end of the games, teams would be motivated to come forward and try and score.”
🥱 P.T.H: “0-0 games are uncommon, and when they occur not necessarily boring. Once in a blue moon—usually in the group stage of a competition—both teams are incentivised to stall to a draw. In such a case, the referee should have the authority to issue a warning (similar to a slow play warning in golf) to cease stalling or suffer the penalty of 0 points.”
🥱 W.T: “Seems like a case of "if it ain't broke, don't fix it." Nil-nil draws can still provide excitement. In the case of a David vs. Goliath match, this result could mean a great deal to the fans. Would be a shame to reward it with nothing at all.”
✍️ C.A: “I've thought for a while that football should incorporate a points system similar to rugby union. I suggest 4 points for a win, 2 for a draw and 1 for a 0-0 draw, with a bonus point awarded for a team that scores three or more goals in a game. I believe that would encourage attacking play and make games more entertaining.”