The FIFA Club World Cup and the Concacaf Gold Cup, which are both being held in the United States, kick off Saturday and will look a little different with a few laws having been tweaked.
Those two competitions, plus the UEFA European Under-21 Championship finals, which started Wednesday, and the UEFA Women’s Euros, kicking off on July 2, will be played with the new regulations.
In addition, FIFA is trying out the latest enhancements to its semi-automated offside technology, and testing cameras placed on a referee’s headset to give fans a new perspective on the game.
What should we expect to see, and what does it all mean?
Goalkeeper holding the ball for too long
We know the situation. A shot comes in or a corner is floated over, and the goalkeeper first flops on the ground for 10 seconds. Then he stands up, surveys his options, and looks around. Maybe then he’ll release the ball, though after some 30 seconds have been lost. Spread that across a game, and it can have a real effect on a match.
It’s been a bug-bear of supporters for quite a while. A tactic most often by used by away teams trying to…
