Football bosses eyeing more rule changes to target injuries, goalkeeper antics and throws

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The people in charge of making football's rules want to bring in more threats to prevent time-wasting while fresh change is being considered to stop players feigning injury.

The International FA Board (IFAB) will hold its annual business meeting in London on Tuesday and wants to address delays relating to injuries and enforce a time limit for substitutions.

Already there is a rule which states players who go off for treatment must remain off for 60 seconds - essentially to prevent players pretending to be injured before going straight back on.

Whilst this is divisive the rule makers could take it even further following a positive trial in the FIFA Arab Cup last year. At the tournament in Qatar , an outfield player who received treatment for an injury had to leave the pitch for two minutes unless they were the victim of a foul for which their opponent received a yellow or red card.

FIFA wants the rule to be widely adopted and are also looking into how they can combat this with goalkeepers, reports The Times . There is a suggestion that, knowing they can't go off, managers are encouraging their shotstoppers to go down. Bosses are looking at whether an outfield player should go off in their place.

IFAB will also discuss how to stop players and managers encouraging time wasting with ball-in-play time dropping by a minute and a half in the Premier League this season - down to 55 minutes and 28 seconds.

A law was bought in this season that threatened goalkeepers with conceding a corner if they hold on to the ball for too long. They get a warning from the referee in the form of an eight-second countdown. IFAB is now considering extending that to cover goal kicks and throw-ins if referees feel they are being used to waste time.

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"Goalkeepers being penalised with a booking in the latter stages of games is largely common throughout English football. There has been an increased use of long throws this season, which naturally take longer to set-up. The rule though would only be enforced if it was thought it was being used for time-wasting.

FIFA are also set to provide an update on the so-called "Wenger's Law". The former Arsenal boss has been influential in a rule change that wants to see clear daylight between attacker and defender for an offside to be given. However the plan is facing united opposition from the British associations and UEFA.

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