UEFA Introduces One-Minute Penalty for Players Staying Down on the Pitch
A new clarification from IFAB, forwarded by UEFA to national associations, stipulates that players who remain lying on the turf must spend exactly one minute off the field.
A new clarification from IFAB, forwarded by UEFA to national associations, stipulates that players who remain lying on the turf must spend exactly one minute off the field.
Footballers who remain lying on the pitch in certain situations will have to spend one minute off the field, according to a new clarification from the International Football Association Board (IFAB) that UEFA has forwarded to the Football Association of Serbia and other national associations. The change is expected to be implemented across Serbia and Europe soon, with the aim of curbing simulation and deliberate time-wasting.
At the heart of the matter is a provision stating that a player who stays down due to injury may be required to leave the field and spend one minute off it. The idea is to prevent situations where an injury is used to deliberately stop play, halt an opponent's attack, or gain a numerical advantage while the player receives treatment.
The new instructions specify how referees should handle different situations, depending on how the stoppage occurred. UEFA has outlined three key scenarios in the IFAB clarification.
The first case concerns a situation where the injury directly affects the game. "If a player remains down and it directly impacts play, the referee is advised to stop the game himself before anyone kicks the ball out of bounds. In that case, the injured player must leave the field and stay off it for exactly one minute," states the clarification, as reported by Kurir.rs.
The second scenario involves a teammate deliberately kicking the ball out. "If a teammate of the player lying on the pitch deliberately kicks the ball out of play to stop the match, the downed player must leave the field for one minute," it further states.
The third case is the most complex and concerns a situation where the ball is kicked out by an opponent in a fair manner. If the player who was down gets up immediately, the referee has two options. He may decide that the player does not have to leave the field, thereby preventing opponents from deliberately kicking the ball out to send a rival off for a minute with a man down. Alternatively, the referee can send the player off the field for one minute if he deems that the player or his teammates deliberately attempted to stop the match in an unfair manner, i.e., through simulation.
If applied consistently, the change could bring a completely different approach to situations where players stay on the ground. Referees will have clearer guidelines, while teams will have to be much more cautious when it comes to stopping play due to alleged injuries.
The news was published on August 18, 2026, and the article includes a photo from the UEFA Congress in Belgrade. The article also includes a video titled "Whistles for Red Star players after the scandal and shame against Hapoel," sourced from MONDO/Dušan Ninković, showing the fans' reaction after the match between Red Star and Hapoel.
