Time Wasting & Delaying Restarts

Delaying a restart is a cautionable offence, but only where the delay is excessive. Laws 3, 15 and 16 take the restart itself first: a substitute who does not leave within ten seconds, a throw-in not taken within a five-second countdown, and a goal kick not taken within the same countdown all cost the team the restart before any card is considered. A goalkeeper who controls the ball for more than eight seconds concedes a corner kick.^18, ^19, ^35, ^36, ^37, ^41, ^48, ⁴⁹

Key points

✓Delaying the restart of play is a cautionable offence, and the Law's own word is excessively: referees must caution players who excessively delay the restart^36, ^37, ⁴¹
✓Law 12's own examples are kicking or carrying the ball away, or provoking a confrontation by deliberately touching the ball after the referee has stopped play, and taking a free kick from the wrong position to force a retake^41, ^42, ⁴³
✓A throw-in not taken by the end of the referee's five-second countdown is awarded to the opposing team, from the same position^1, ^6, ^7, ⁴⁸
✓A goal kick not taken by the end of the same countdown gives a corner kick to the opposing team, on the side of the field closest to where the goal kick was to be taken^1, ^6, ^8, ⁴⁹
✓In both cases the player is cautioned only if they or a team-mate then excessively delay the opposing team's restart, so losing the restart is the sanction and the card is not automatic^1, ^9, ^48, ⁴⁹
✓The referee starts the countdown with a whistle, a clear hand or arm signal and a visible count down from five, and does not have to wait for the player to have the ball^1, ^2, ^3, ^4, ^5, ¹⁰

Show the remaining 11 key points

✓The countdown can be started for deliberately slow retrieval of the ball, an incorrect position at a throw-in, or the ball put in an incorrect position at a goal kick^10, ^11, ^12, ¹³
✓A player already in the process of throwing or kicking the ball as the countdown ends should not be penalised¹⁴
✓A player being substituted must be off the field within ten seconds, and is cautioned only if they excessively delay the restart beyond it^15, ^16, ^17, ^18, ¹⁹
✓Where they do not, the substitution still stands, play restarts, and the substitute may enter only at the first stoppage after one minute has elapsed^18, ^20, ^21, ^22, ²³
✓A goalkeeper who, inside their own penalty area, controls the ball with the hands or arms for more than eight seconds before releasing it concedes a corner kick, not a caution^35, ^50, ^51, ⁵²
✓A goal celebration must not be excessive, and choreographed celebrations must not cause excessive time-wasting⁴⁰
✓Feigning injury is an attempt to deceive the referee, which is a caution for unsporting behaviour^38, ³⁹
✓A team official delaying their own team's restart is a caution, while delaying the restart of play by the opposing team, for example by holding onto the ball or kicking it away, is a sending-off offence^44, ^45, ^46, ⁴⁷
✓Time is added in each half for substitutions, assessment and removal of injured players, wasting time, disciplinary sanctions, medical stoppages, VAR checks and reviews, goal celebrations and any other cause^24, ^25, ^26, ^27, ^28, ^29, ^30, ^31, ³²
✓The board shows the minimum additional time the referee has decided, and the referee may increase it but not reduce it³³
✓A timekeeping error in the first half is not compensated for by changing the length of the second³⁴

Read the full rule

Scenarios

Scenario 1

Player kicks the ball away after a foul is given against them

Yellow card

After a foul is awarded against a player, they kick the ball away to delay the restart.

Correct call: Caution for delaying the restart of play. Kicking or carrying the ball away after the referee has stopped play is one of Law 12's own examples.

Common mistake: Calling it a foul. Nothing is awarded for this beyond the free kick that was already given: the sanction is the card.

Law^36, ^37, ^41, ⁴²

Scenario 2

Winning team takes 30 seconds over every throw-in

Throw-in

In the final 15 minutes a winning team consistently takes 20 to 30 seconds over every throw-in.

Correct call: The referee whistles and counts down five seconds with a raised hand, and if the throw-in is not taken by the end of it the throw-in goes to the opposing team from the same position.

Common mistake: Cautioning instead. The caution applies only if the player or a team-mate then excessively delays the opponents' throw-in, so the card follows the loss of the restart rather than replacing it.

Law^1, ^6, ^7, ^9, ⁴⁸

Scenario 3

Goalkeeper dawdles over a goal kick

Corner kick

A goalkeeper takes their time placing the ball and the referee's five-second countdown runs out before the goal kick is taken.

Correct call: Corner kick to the opposing team, taken on the side of the field closest to where the goal kick was to be taken.

Common mistake: Expecting the throw-in outcome, where the restart simply changes hands. At a goal kick the sanction is a corner, which is a far heavier price for the same delay.

Law^1, ^6, ^8, ⁴⁹

Scenario 4

Thrower is in the act of throwing as the count ends

Play on

The referee reaches the end of the five-second countdown just as the player is bringing the ball over their head to throw.

Correct call: Play on. A player in the process of throwing or kicking the ball as the countdown ends should not be penalised, because the countdown exists to keep the tempo of the match rather than to catch a player on a technicality.

Common mistake: Awarding the throw-in to the opponents on the count alone. The protocol says in its own words that this player is not penalised.

Law¹⁴

Scenario 5

Goalkeeper holds the ball for nine seconds

Corner kick

A goalkeeper catches a cross inside their own penalty area and keeps hold of it for nine seconds before releasing it.

Correct call: Corner kick to the opposing team. This is not a caution and not an indirect free kick.

Common mistake: Reaching for a yellow card for time wasting. The goalkeeper's eight-second limit has its own sanction and the card list does not cover it.

Law^35, ^50, ^51, ⁵²

The full rule

Law 12 cautions a player for delaying the restart of play, and the wording is narrower than the reputation: referees must caution players who excessively delay the restart, including as outlined in Laws 3, 15 and 16 and their protocols, or by kicking or carrying the ball away or provoking a confrontation by deliberately touching the ball after the referee has stopped play, or by taking a free kick from the wrong position to force a retake. That list is short because the work has moved to the restarts themselves, and all three of those Laws are built the same way: they take the restart first and caution only for an excessive delay after that. A player being substituted must be off the field within ten seconds of the board or the referee's signal, and if they are not, the substitution still stands, the substitute waits, play restarts without them and may only enter at the first stoppage after a minute has elapsed; the player is cautioned only if they excessively delay the restart beyond the ten seconds. A player unfairly delaying their team's throw-in gets a whistle and a visible five-second countdown from a raised hand, and if the throw-in has not been taken by the end of it the throw-in is awarded to the opposing team from the same position; the same countdown at a goal kick gives a corner kick to the opposing team on the side of the field closest to where the goal kick was to be taken. In both cases the offending player is cautioned only if they or a team-mate then excessively delay the opposing team's restart. The countdown does not wait for the player to have the ball, and can be started for slowly retrieving it, for taking up an incorrect position at a throw-in or for putting the ball in an incorrect position at a goal kick, in each case where the player deliberately causes the delay. And a player already in the process of throwing or kicking the ball as the count reaches its end should not be penalised, since the purpose is to keep the tempo of the match rather than to catch a player on a technicality. The goalkeeper's version is not a caution at all: a corner kick is awarded where a goalkeeper, inside their own penalty area, controls the ball with the hands or arms for more than eight seconds before releasing it. Two more provisions are worth knowing. A goal celebration must not be excessive, and choreographed celebrations must not cause excessive time-wasting. And for team officials the sanction depends on whose restart is being delayed: delaying their own team's restart is a caution, while delaying the restart of play by the opposing team, for example by holding onto the ball or kicking it away, is a sending-off offence. What the referee does about lost time is Law 7's, and it is an allowance rather than a stopwatch. Time is added in each half for substitutions, assessment and removal of injured players, wasting time, disciplinary sanctions, medical stoppages, VAR checks and reviews, goal celebrations and any other cause including a significant delay to a restart. The fourth official indicates the minimum additional time the referee has decided, and the referee may increase it but not reduce it, which is why the board is a floor and not a promise. A timekeeping error in the first half is never corrected by changing the length of the second.^1, ^6, ^7, ^8, ^9, ^10, ^11, ^12, ^13, ^14, ^15, ^16, ^17, ^18, ^19, ^20, ^21, ^22, ^23, ^24, ^25, ^26, ^27, ^28, ^29, ^30, ^31, ^32, ^33, ^34, ^35, ^36, ^37, ^40, ^41, ^42, ^43, ^44, ^45, ^46, ^47, ^48, ^49, ^50, ^51, ⁵²