Time-wasting and delaying the restart.

How officials judge delay

1. Decide whether the ball is in play or already out of play.
2. Identify the act causing the delay: slow retrieval, holding the ball, kicking it away, standing over the ball, delaying a substitution, or taking too long with a restart.
3. Check whether a specific countdown rule applies, such as goalkeeper hand control, a throw-in, or a goal kick.
4. Decide whether the behaviour is ordinary match management, excessive delay, dissent, unsporting behaviour, or a more serious offence.
5. Apply the correct outcome: add time, manage the player verbally, caution, send off where the law requires it, or change the restart only where the Laws provide for that change.

What delaying the restart means

Delaying the restart of play means using unfair delay after play has stopped or while a restart should be taken. Common examples include kicking or carrying the ball away, holding the ball to stop an opponent restarting, provoking a confrontation by touching the ball after the whistle, pretending to take a throw-in and leaving it for a team-mate, or taking too long to leave the field during a substitution.

The referee is not required to caution every small pause. Officials usually separate normal delay, confusion, ball retrieval, injury management, and tactical stalling. A card becomes more likely when the action is deliberate, public, repeated, prevents the other team from restarting, or clearly wastes time near the end of a match.

The card and restart are separate

A yellow card for delay does not automatically change the restart. If the ball is out of play and a player kicks it away after a free kick, throw-in, corner, goal kick, kick-off, or dropped ball has already been awarded, the match normally restarts with that original decision. The card punishes the misconduct; the restart follows the reason play was already stopped.

If misconduct happens while the ball is in play and the referee stops play only for that misconduct, the restart follows the misconduct rule. Verbal offences and several technical offences restart with an indirect free kick, while physical offences can create a direct free kick or penalty kick.

Opponents cannot block the restart

At a free kick, opponents must respect the required distance unless the attacking team chooses to take the kick quickly. If an opponent who is still close simply intercepts a quick free kick, play may continue. But if the opponent deliberately prevents the quick free kick, stands over the ball, moves toward the ball to block it, or kicks the ball away, the referee can caution that player for delaying the restart.

This is why two similar-looking incidents can be treated differently. A defender who is caught nearby because the kick was taken instantly may not be punished. A defender who actively stops the restart is committing misconduct.

Throw-ins and goal kicks can be transferred

For delayed throw-ins and goal kicks, the referee can start a five-second countdown when the team taking the restart is unfairly delaying. The referee signals for the restart to be taken and counts down with a raised hand. If a throw-in is not taken in time, the throw-in is awarded to the opposing team from the same position. If a goal kick is not taken in time, the restart becomes a corner kick to the opposing team from the nearest side.

The countdown is not meant to punish a player who is genuinely in the act of throwing or kicking the ball as the count ends. It is aimed at deliberate delay, such as slowly retrieving the ball, using the wrong position to waste time, or moving the ball around instead of restarting.

The keeper hand-control rule is different

A goalkeeper who controls the ball with the hands or arms inside their own penalty area has an eight-second limit before releasing it. The referee decides when control begins and visually counts down the final five seconds. If the goalkeeper exceeds the limit, the restart is a corner kick to the opponents from the side closest to the goalkeeper's position when penalised.

Opponents cannot challenge a goalkeeper who has hand or arm control of the ball or prevent the release. If an attacker causes the goalkeeper to hold the ball too long by blocking or interfering with the release, the offence is usually against the attacker, not the goalkeeper. See the full goalkeeper eight-second rule for the keeper-specific decision path.

Time can be added instead of carded

Time-wasting also affects the clock. Referees make allowance for time lost through substitutions, injuries, disciplinary sanctions, VAR checks, goal celebrations, delays to restarts, and other causes. The displayed added time is a minimum, so further delay during stoppage time can still be added before the final whistle.

Adding time and showing a card are different tools. A referee may add time without cautioning anyone, caution a player and add time, or use a specific restart sanction where the Laws require it.

Coaches can be punished too

Delay is not limited to players on the field. Substitutes, substituted players, sent-off players, and team officials can be disciplined for delaying a restart. A team official who delays their own team's restart can be cautioned. A team official who delays the opposing team's restart, such as by holding the ball, kicking it away, or obstructing a player, can be sent off.

Misunderstandings to avoid

• "The referee has to book every delay" is wrong. The referee judges whether the delay is excessive, deliberate, or covered by a specific countdown rule.
• "A yellow card changes the restart" is usually wrong. If play was already stopped, the original restart normally remains.
• "Standing near the ball is always a card" is too broad. Preventing a quick restart is different from being nearby when the attacking team chooses to restart immediately.
• "The goalkeeper gets a free warning first" is not the rule. The referee decides when the goalkeeper's control begins and counts the final five seconds visibly.
• "Added time is exact" is wrong. The number shown is a minimum, and the referee can add more for later delay.

Source material

• IFAB Law 7: The Duration of the Match
• IFAB Law 12: Fouls and Misconduct
• IFAB Law 13: Free Kicks
• IFAB Law 15: The Throw-in
• IFAB Law 16: The Goal Kick
• IFAB Throw-in and Goal-kick Countdown Protocol