On July 1, the rule on how long a goalkeeper is allowed to hold the ball during ongoing play and what the penalty will be is changing. According to the new rule, decided by the International Football Association Board (Ifab) in early March, the goalkeeper is allowed to hold the ball for eight seconds, instead of the previous six, and the penalty will be a corner kick instead of an indirect free kick if the time is exceeded.
However, IFK Göteborg's coach and players are questioning how the rule will work in practice.
We had a rule before with six seconds that wasn't followed. Now they're raising it to eight. I think the teams that want to cheat will find other ways to do it, says "Blåvitt's" coach Stefan Billborn at Monday's Allsvenskan kickoff meeting in Solna and continues:
I'm skeptical about whether it will have a big effect. I don't think the biggest problem is when the goalkeeper has the ball. I think the biggest problem is throw-ins and goal kicks, when the ball is out of play. If you want to have a faster game pace, you have to find a way to address that too.
"Completely wrong"
Captain Gustav Svensson believes it will be very difficult for referees to make decisions based on the eight-second rule in tough, tight matches and that there is a risk of inconsistency in the judgments.
It feels like this is going to be a decision that will cause a lot of trouble for the players. I don't think it will be judged consistently all the time. As soon as you've let one of those (situations) go, the whole thing is completely wrong. Then you have to make sure you really do it after eight seconds, he says.
Svensson would rather have seen goalkeepers who break the rule being warned. Which, for example, applies to outfield players who delay the game in connection with throw-ins.
I think it's wrong to have collective punishment.
Besara more positive
Hammarby's captain Nahir Besara is more positive about the rule change and believes it will have an effect.
It's nice that they (the referees) have a clear rule to follow. If you don't follow it, you'll be punished, says Besara.
He believes it can become easier for referees to judge a milder penalty, a corner kick, than an indirect free kick.
I definitely think so.
