Referees’ chief confirms World Cup clampdown on goalkeeper timeouts Leeds United will welcome | OneFootball

World Cup referees will stop teams going to the benches during goalkeeper injury stoppages, a clampdown on tactical timeouts that repeatedly frustrated Leeds United in 2025/26.

Leeds’ ire flared after Manchester City’s Gianluigi Donnarumma went down in November, then again when Chelsea’s Robert Sanchez paused April’s FA Cup semi-final as Enzo Fernandez and staff organised a huddle, prompting Ethan Ampadu to intervene.

Premier League officials must halt play for injured goalkeepers and the goalkeeper does not have to leave the pitch. In contrast, players will be kept on the field during such pauses at the World Cup, the BBC reports of FIFA referees’ chief Pierluigi Collina.

There are doubts over impact, with regular water breaks still sending players to dugouts, but Leeds will welcome any effort to curb goalkeeper timeouts. The Premier League have yet to outline a similar change, though reports during the season suggested it was being explored.

“The referee is at the mercy of the player here. He can’t do anything because God forbid, the referee says get up and the goalkeeper is really injured - he’d be in big, big trouble.” He told Sky Sports’ Ref Watch.

“I think what’s interesting, one of the leagues are going to experiment next season where if a goalkeeper goes down like that, because it’ll be a minute out next year when a player goes off, they are going to have to take an outfield player off for one minute. That would be a good solution.”

Source: yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk