Arsenal defender Katie McCabe smirked as she trundled off the pitch in the 71st minute, with her side leading against Liverpool 2-0 on Sunday. Referee Rebecca Welch had just cautioned her for taking too long to be substituted.
Manchester City captain Alex Greenwood was less amused in October when she was shown a second yellow against Chelsea in the 37th minute by referee Emily Heaslip after she was deemed to have taken too long over a free kick.
That is just one strand of the approach implemented by Women’s Super League (WSL) officials who, as with their counterparts in the men’s game, are taking a more robust approach this season to clamp down on time-wasters.
The other strand: to ensure any time wasted via goal celebrations, injuries and substitutions is added at the end of each half to increase the amount of time the ball is in play. The International Football Association Board (IFAB), the body that looks after the game’s laws, asked competition organisers to adopt this approach after data revealed playing time was decreasing globally.
This WSL season has surpassed its halfway point (12 of 22 games), providing an opportunity to assess the impact of the Professional Game Match Officials Board’s (PGMOL) measures. And this new, stricter approach to time-keeping has…
