Breaking down FIFA's proposed rule changes including shorter matches

FIFA are considering making radical changes to the rules of football in the near future, and are testing out five major alterations to the way the game is played in a youth tournament called the Future of Football Cup.

Four Under-19 teams, PSV Eindhoven, AZ Alkmaar, RB Leipzig and Club Brugge are competing in the revolutionary tournament, and FIFA are willing to evaluate the response and reaction to the changes made, to decide whether to implement them at all levels.

And Mundo Deportivo has revealed that these changes being tested could completely turn the sport upside down. FIFA president Gianni Infantino is looking to shorten matches, stop the clock when the ball goes out of play, allow unlimited substitutions, create sin bins for yellow cards and take throw-ins with the feet.

Here are the potential rule changes in more detail.

Shorter matches

The first change proposed is the duration of football matches. Real Madrid president Florentino Perez has already expressed his unfounded concern that the younger generation is losing interest in football matches, and he believes games should be shorter.

FIFA appear to agree, having trialled two 30-minute halves of action, resulting in a one-hour match, instead of the traditional hour and a half.

Stop the clock

FIFA are also considering doing away with injury-time, and instead replacing it with a stopped clock system. That means that the clock would be stopped every time the ball went out of play, instead of adding on minutes at the end of the match.

This would be used in order to try and combat time-wasting, and it'd create an exact 30-minute half of football.

Unlimited substitutions

Another change FIFA are contemplating is the use of substitutions. Due to the impact of the coronavirus outbreak on the fixture list and subsequent player fatigue, teams are now allowed to make five substitutions per game in some countries, with a potential sixth change should the match go to extra-time.

FIFA are planning to do away with a cap on substitutions, allowing coaches to make an unlimited number of changes throughout the 60 minutes.

Sin bins

FIFA are also considering the sin-bin system, used in other sports such as rugby. If these changes came into place, players would receive a five-minute temporary expulsion from the pitch when handed a yellow card.

The player would be forced to watch from the sidelines for the five minutes, before returning to the action when the penalty ends.

Throw-ins

One change that Arsene Wenger has been keen on for a while is the removal of throw-ins from our sport. Now he is part of FIFA, that idea is being tested. Players in the youth competition are now taking dead balls from the touchline with their feet, rather than the standard throw-in with their hands.

bad news for Liverpool's famed throw-in coach Thomas Gronnemark.

If brought into our game, these changes would completely revolutionise the sport at every level.