WORLD Cup ball technology is set to be used to ensure corners are not wrongly awarded this summer.
Law makers on the International FA Board are expected to green light the use of the chip inside the “connected” balls for corners at a meeting next week.
The adidas technology used by Fifa can automatically determine the last player to touch it before it goes out of play, allowing VAR officials to instantly contact referees to make sure the correct call is made.
And Ifab bosses will also discuss plans to introduce a “countdown clock” for throw-ins, goal-kicks, a 10-second window for substitutes to enter the pitch and potential formal trials for Arsene Wenger’s “daylight” offside Law plan.
Tuesday’s annual business meeting at a Heathrow hotel will set the template for the formal AGM in Cardiff next month, when any Law changes will be officially ratified.
Last year, Fifa President Gianni Infantino was the impetus for the surprise immediate introduction of the eight-second countdown for goalkeepers, which has significantly speeded up play.
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Time-wasting is now viewed as the biggest priority by the Ifab Board, which is composed of the four Home Nation FAs plus four Fifa representatives.
But the most obvious change that will impact the World Cup would be using technology to ensure corners are correctly awarded, plus the possible temporary use of VAR for second yellow cards.
Fifa refs’ chief and former World Cup Final whistler Pierluigi Collina has been pushing for action over wrong corner decisions.
There was pushback from some Ifab members over the idea, with arguments that further VAR checks would add even more time to games, now routinely stretching beyond 100 minutes.
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But the use of the hi-tech chip, introduced by Fifa for the 2022 World Cup and which helps VARs determine the last player to make contact with the ball for tight offside calls, would allow for an automatic signal to officials, with no time wasted if the on-field call is wrong.
If this was adopted, there would be no need for alterations to the Laws or VAR protocols, as use of the computer algorithms to inform decision making – for offsides and goalline decisions – is already included.
The principle of what Ifab terms as “combating deliberate tempo disruption and time ‘lost’” will see the first moves towards a more aggressive demand for speeding up play.
Ifab believes the success of the countdown Law for keepers – with a corner awarded if the referee’s raised hand goes to zero – shows that players have learned to respect the change.
The agenda says that members will discuss “countdown and restart reversal for throw-ins and goal kicks”, with players expected to get the ball back in play within five seconds.
That comes with PGMO bosses confirming that the extra time being wasted as Prem teams prepare for long throws has seen more than a minute more time added to games on average this season, while the ball has been in play for almost 90 seconds less per match.
There is also a push for a “time limit for substitutions”. Sun Sport understands that it would see players leaving the pitch having just 10 seconds to complete the change.
If they fail to leave the field in time, they must remain off but their replacement would not be allowed onto the pitch until the next stoppage in play.
And another imminent change, trialled at the Arab Cup in December, would see any player who goes off the pitch for treatment having to stay on the sidelines for two minutes unless they were the victim of a foul which brought a yellow or red card.
Ifab members are expected to clarify guidance for referees over cases of denying an obvious goalscoring opportunity, which will see officials told to also take into account the number of attacking players in the vicinity when a foul which might prevent a goal occurs.
But despite Infantino’s suggestion last month that a major change in offside was on the horizon, there will only be an agreement for further trials of both the original Wenger proposals and his revised “torso” option, as revealed by Sun Sport last year.
That would see assistant referees looking across the defensive line to view the torso or upper body of all players, rather than their limbs or head.
If there is any overlap of the torso, the attacking player would be onside.
The Home Nations, representing Uefa, are understood to be agreed that the full daylight idea would re-balance the equation too much in favour of attackers, whereas a torso Law would make top flight football closer to the grass roots of the game.