Four ways to tackle football's frustrating 'tactical time-out'

Goalkeepers going down claiming they have been injured has become common in football at all levels

Chelsea goalkeeper Robert Sanchez slowly sat down on the Wembley turf and signalled that he needed treatment during Sunday's FA Cup semi-final against Leeds United.

Referee Jarred Gillett blew his whistle, and waved the physio on to the pitch.

All Chelsea's outfield players jogged over to the technical area to get instructions. Coaches use it as a way to regroup, or simply to stifle the opposition.

Loud boos rang out from the Leeds fans inside the stadium, all too aware of this frustrating tactic.

Leeds captain Ethan Ampadu was so annoyed that he tried to place himself inside the Chelsea team talk.

Officials have been powerless to prevent the stoppages happening.

The International Football Association Board (Ifab) has been looking at the problem, but no law change has been agreed in time for next season.

Instead, leagues will be offered the chance to carry out a series of trials.

Here is what is being proposed.

Until a couple of seasons ago, it was usually an outfield player who would go to ground to stop play.

It was being used for two distinct reasons.

Either to break up the momentum of the opposition by causing a stoppage in play, or for the coach to give instructions to his players. Sometimes it has been both.

English football attempted to combat this by insisting that any player who receives treatment must leave the field for 30 seconds.

It had some positive results, but managers just switched focus and told the goalkeeper to ask for treatment.

A team cannot play without a goalkeeper, so it became a risk-free method of impacting the opposition, or getting the opportunity to talk to your team.

There is nothing a referee can do about it, as they cannot accuse a player of faking an injury. If it turned out the player was genuinely injured there could be serious repercussions.

So the game has been stuck in a doom loop.

Goalkeepers go down, the other 10 players rush to the technical area for a team talk.

As soon as the coach has delivered his message, the keeper miraculously gets to his feet.

It has been a theme during Leeds' season, starting in November when Manchester City goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma went down as the West Yorkshire club were in the ascendancy at Etihad Stadium.

Manager Daniel Farke accused Donnarumma of feigning injury to "bend the rules" and break up play.

But this is not a Leeds issue, it is a football issue. It is happening at all levels of the game and is particularly prevalent in the women's game.

Pep Guardiola's Manchester City team were struggling to cope with Leeds United but the stoppage to allow Gianluigi Donnarumma to receive treatment gave the coach the chance to talk to his players

There is an argument that Ifab has been far too slow in tackling this.

The issue has been discussed for a couple of years and was the subject of lengthy debates in the technical meetings of the football and referee advisory boards in October.

Ifab changed several laws for next season to cover delaying tactics - including putting a time limit on goal-kicks, throw-ins and substitutions.

But there was no agreement over the best course of action to end the goalkeeper tactical time-out.

The result? Leagues will be invited to hold trials throughout the 2026-27 season.

The Women's Super League (WSL) has put its hand up to be part of the testing process.

Ifab will look at the results in March next year, and at that point one solution might be chosen to go into the laws in every league.

While English football, and a few other leagues, had unilaterally brought in the 30-second rule, Ifab has gone a step further.

From next season, the laws will stipulate that any player who needs treatment must go off for one minute.

The first potential goalkeeper tactical time-out trial would simply follow that logic.

If a goalkeeper needs treatment, then another player on the team must leave the field for a minute.

There could be parallel trials to determine who should go off - either the captain or a player selected by the manager.

Some in October's meetings believed this to be the best solution, as it would be consistent with the law.

But others thought it was not enough of a deterrent.

A coach might calculate the risk and reward of being down to 10 players for 60 seconds, able to change the pattern of the game or cause disruption.

This follows the same ethos as trial one, but with an important twist.

An outfield player has to go off, but for double the length of time.

Those in favour say that one minute is not enough of a deterrent to managers who are desperate to get new instructions across.

Maybe their team has just had a player sent off, or they are really under pressure and want to break up momentum.

Those against it feel it places too much emphasis on goalkeepers feigning injury.

It could deter genuinely injured players from asking for treatment, fearing they might negatively impact their own team.

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The National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) - the women's professional league in the United States and Canada - is leading the way on this.

It has shown that no league has to wait for Ifab to come up with trials - it is possible to act in simple ways right now.

When the 2026 season kicked off last month, the NWSL announced it would feature a new goalkeeper injury policy.

If a goalkeeper is injured, the players of both teams must:

Remain in the area where they were located when play was stopped

Or, gather on their team's side of the centre-circle

If players approach the technical area, the team and/or coach may be subject to league discipline

If the injured goalkeeper is to be substituted prior to the restart of play, then it does not apply.

However, this does not tackle the stoppages designed to break up opponents' momentum.

For instance, the NWSL trial will not stop a goalkeeper going down should a coach feel the opposition is building up a head of steam.

This is a combination of the first and third trials.

Some members of the technical panels were concerned that simply stopping players from going to the touchline only fixes part of the problem.

The hybrid model will mean players are not allowed to go to the touchline, but an outfield player - the captain or as selected by the manager - must also leave the field for a minute.

This could be the most effective solution to the wider issue.

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