Overview
- English professional leagues have announced a pilot requiring a manager to name an outfield player to leave the pitch for one minute when medical staff enter to treat a goalkeeper.
- The manager will have ten seconds to name that player and if no one is named the captain must leave, creating an automatic one-minute period in which the team plays a man down.
- The trial covers the top five men's tiers and the Women’s Super League and includes exceptions for treatment after a foul, collisions with another player, or visible bleeding.
- The experiment still needs approval from the International Football Association Board and the leagues say it could be used in upcoming Carabao Cup matches and at the Premier League opener on 21 August if cleared.
- Leagues frame the rule as a deterrent to timewasting and on-field tactical briefings during goalkeeper stoppages, responding to repeated criticism of past incidents such as the Manchester City–Leeds match last season.