Delay can mean added time, a card or a lost restart.

Scope: association football under The IFAB

This page applies the International Football Association Board (The IFAB) Laws of the Game 2026/27 for eleven-a-side association football, principally Laws 3.3, 7.3, 12.3–12.5, 13.3, 15.2 and 16.2 and the two restart-management protocols. The edition took effect on 1 July 2026.

Under IFAB Circular 32, a competition that began before that date could introduce the changes early or defer them no later than the start of its next competition. Confirm the appointed edition during that transition. Futsal, beach soccer and unaffiliated small-sided formats use different laws; competition regulations may also adopt only modifications or options authorised by The IFAB.

Time-wasting is not always “delaying the restart”

In IFAB terminology, delaying the restart of play concerns conduct after play has stopped and before the ball is legally put back into play. Law 12.4 requires a caution when a player excessively delays by, for example, kicking or carrying the ball away, deliberately touching it after the whistle to provoke a confrontation, taking a free kick from the wrong position to force a retake or otherwise excessively delaying.

Conduct while the ball is still in play is judged under the ordinary playing Laws. IFAB's Law 12 FAQ gives a deliberate clearance into touch to consume time as an example: award the throw-in and add the lost time, but do not caution for delaying a restart solely on that basis because there was no restart yet.

Resolve the incident in this order

1. Was the ball live? If yes, identify any actual foul, handball or other offence; “time-wasting” does not invent a free kick.
2. If play had stopped, what was the original restart? Record the free kick, throw-in, goal kick, corner, kick-off or dropped ball before dealing with misconduct.
3. Does a specific procedure apply? Check the eight-second goalkeeper limit, the five-second throw-in/goal-kick countdown or the ten-second substitution limit.
4. Did someone obstruct the opponents' restart? Deliberately preventing a quick free kick or holding the ball can require a caution even if no countdown applies.
5. What is the disciplinary threshold? Separate ordinary management from excessive delay, repetition and any distinct offence such as dissent or violent conduct.
6. How much time was lost? Law 7.3 requires the referee to make allowance independently of any card or restart sanction.

A yellow card usually does not replace the restart

If the ball was already out of play, later misconduct does not normally change the decision that made it dead. A defender who holds the ball after a free kick is awarded is cautioned for delaying the restart, but the opponents still take that free kick. The same principle applies when a substitute kicks the ball away before an opposing throw-in.

A second caution to the same person in the match produces a sending-off, including when the first caution was received as a substitute and the second as a player. More serious misconduct can itself require a red card, but conduct committed while the ball is out still normally leaves the previously awarded restart in place.

There is no generic restart stopwatch

Outside the specific limits below, the Laws do not set a universal number of seconds after which every free kick, corner, kick-off or dropped ball earns a card. Law 12 uses the word excessively, leaving the referee to judge the action and its effect. A verbal instruction may help manage a minor pause, but the Laws do not promise every player a warning before a caution.

Nor does a team's score or the minute of the match decide the offence. The decisive conduct is the delay itself. Holding the ball to stop an opponent restarting can be punishable in the first half as well as late in a match.

Being nearby is different from blocking the kick

Opponents ordinarily remain at least 9.15 m (10 yds) from a free kick. If the attacking team chooses a quick kick while an opponent is still closer and that opponent merely intercepts it, Law 13.3 says play continues: the kicker accepted that risk. An opponent who deliberately prevents the quick kick must instead be cautioned for delaying the restart.

Once the referee has begun the disciplinary-sanction procedure, play generally waits for the card. Law 12.4 has a narrow exception where the non-offending team takes a quick free kick, has a clear goal-scoring opportunity and the referee has not yet started that procedure; the card is then dealt with at the next stoppage.

The five seconds start only when the referee signals

The 2026/27 Laws do not put every throw-in and goal kick on an automatic five-second clock. When the referee determines that the team is deliberately or unfairly delaying, the referee blows the whistle, clearly signals for the restart and visually counts down from five with a raised hand. A prior verbal hurry-up is permitted but not required.

• Throw-in not taken by zero: the opponents receive the throw-in from the same position.
• Goal kick not taken by zero: the opponents receive a corner on the side closest to where the goal kick was to be taken.
• Player already throwing or kicking: the protocol says not to penalise a player who is in the process of taking the restart as the countdown ends.
• Yellow card: the initial transfer is the sanction. A caution applies only if that player or a team-mate then excessively delays the opponents' new restart.

Ten seconds to leave, then the incoming player waits

Once the board is shown—or the referee signals where there is no board—the player being replaced must normally leave within ten seconds and at the nearest boundary point unless the referee directs otherwise. The referee may show the final five seconds. Injury and safety or security can make the time limit inapplicable.

If the player is not off in time, they must still leave, play restarts and the named substitute cannot enter until the first stoppage after one minute of running clock has elapsed. The substitution cannot be cancelled or switched to another substitute. There is no automatic card at ten seconds: the outgoing player is cautioned only if the further delay is excessive, and the protocol permits the substitute to enter if the outgoing player is very close to or crossing the line as the count ends.

Eight seconds applies while the ball is live

A goalkeeper inside their own penalty area may not control the ball with the hands or arms for more than eight seconds. The referee decides when clear control begins and visually counts the final five seconds. Holding the ball against the ground or body, carrying it, bouncing it and tossing it in the air all remain one period of control.

If the limit is exceeded, the opponents receive a corner on the side closest to the goalkeeper's position when penalised. There is no card for the first offence solely because the limit was exceeded; repetition can bring a caution. This is different from the goal-kick countdown: goalkeeper hand control occurs with the ball in play, while a goal kick is a dead-ball restart.

An opponent cannot manufacture the corner

An opponent may not challenge a goalkeeper who has hand or arm control or prevent the release. If interference causes the goalkeeper to retain the ball beyond eight seconds, do not award the attacker a corner. Unless advantage can be applied, IFAB's Law 12 guidance awards the goalkeeper's team an indirect free kick for prevention without contact or a direct free kick when the attacker makes illegal contact.

The attacker is not automatically cautioned. A caution can follow for a reckless act, repetition or stopping or interfering with a promising attack. See the full goalkeeper eight-second rule for the control and release tests.

Restoring time and punishing conduct are separate

The referee makes allowance in each half for playing time lost through wasting time, substitutions, injuries, disciplinary sanctions, VAR delays, goal celebrations and any other significant restart delay. The fourth official's displayed figure is the minimum additional time; the referee may increase it for later delay but may not reduce it.

Added time does not erase misconduct, and a card does not remove the need to restore lost time. Depending on the facts, the referee may add time without showing a card, add time and caution, or add time after applying a dedicated restart sanction.

Team officials face a different sanction scale

Law 12.4 lists delaying a restart by a team official's own team as a caution offence. Delaying the opposing team's restart—such as holding the ball, kicking it away or obstructing a player—is a sending-off offence for a team official.

Substitutes and substituted players can also be cautioned for delaying a restart. If an offence from the technical area cannot be attributed to a particular substitute, substituted or sent-off player or team official, the senior team coach present receives the sanction under Law 12.

A defender holds the ball after a foul

Situation: Blue receives a direct free kick. Before the referee begins any card procedure, Red picks up the ball and holds it so Blue cannot restart quickly.

Ruling: caution Red for delaying the restart and retain Blue's direct free kick from the foul location. The decisive facts are that play had already stopped and Red deliberately prevented the opponents' restart; the misconduct does not replace the original award.

The throw-in count reaches zero

Situation: Blue is deliberately slow at a throw-in. The referee whistles, signals and visually counts five; the ball is still not in play at zero.

Ruling: Red receives the throw-in at the same position. Do not automatically caution the Blue player. A caution follows only if Blue then excessively delays Red's new throw-in. The dedicated Law 15 consequence controls the initial delay.

A delayed goal kick becomes a corner

Situation: the goalkeeper ignores an available ball and walks slowly toward another one. The referee starts the prescribed five-second count before the goalkeeper has picked it up; the goal kick is not taken in time.

Ruling: award the opponents a corner on the side nearest where the goal kick was to be taken. The referee need not wait for possession of the ball before intervening. No yellow card accompanies the transfer unless the goalkeeper or a team-mate then excessively delays the corner.

The outgoing player crosses the field

Situation: after the board is shown, a player near the far touchline ignores the nearest exit and walks slowly toward halfway, remaining on the field when ten seconds expire. No safety or injury exception applies.

Ruling: require the player to leave, restart without the substitute and permit that substitute to enter only with the referee's signal at the first stoppage after one running minute. A caution is added only if the outgoing player's further delay is excessive. The decisive breach is missing the Law 3 time limit without an exception.

The ball is kicked out while still live

Situation: a leading defender, under no pressure, forcefully kicks the live ball over the touchline to consume time without committing another offence.

Ruling: award the opponents a throw-in and make allowance for time lost. Do not caution solely for delaying the restart because the action occurred before the restart existed. A separate offence would still be judged on its own facts.

A quick free kick hits a nearby opponent

Situation: Blue immediately takes a legal free kick while Red, less than 9.15 m away, is retreating and makes no move to block it. The pass strikes Red and Red gains possession.

Ruling: play continues. Blue accepted the risk of taking quickly. The ruling changes if Red deliberately moves to prevent the kick: that action requires a caution for delaying the restart.

Five shortcuts that produce the wrong ruling

• “Every slow restart is a yellow card”: no. The ordinary Law 12 threshold is excessive delay, and Laws 3, 15 and 16 use specific first consequences.
• “Every throw-in and goal kick has five seconds”: no. The count begins only after the referee judges deliberate or unfair delay, whistles and signals.
• “Ten seconds guarantees a substitution yellow”: no. Missing the limit delays the incoming substitute; only excessive further delay brings the caution.
• “A card changes the restart”: usually not when the misconduct occurs after the ball is already out.
• “The added-time board is the exact final whistle”: it shows a minimum, and later delay can increase it.

The dedicated tempo rules are current Laws, not universal history

The five-second throw-in and goal-kick countdowns and the ten-second substitution procedure were added for the 2026/27 edition. The goalkeeper's eight-second hand-control restriction had already replaced the former six-second indirect-free-kick rule in 2025/26 and remains in force.

These dates matter when watching recordings or competitions operating in IFAB's transition window. Do not apply the 2026/27 transferred-restart or delayed-entry consequence to a match whose appointed rules still use an earlier edition.

Governing-body sources and effective version

• The IFAB — Laws of the Game 2026/27, Law 3.3: substitution procedure
• The IFAB — 2026/27 Time-limited substitution protocol — ten-second exit, delayed entry, exceptions and card threshold.
• The IFAB — Laws of the Game 2026/27, Law 7.3: allowance for time lost
• The IFAB — Laws of the Game 2026/27, Law 12.3–12.5: goalkeeper control, delay misconduct, team officials and restarts
• The IFAB — Laws of the Game 2026/27, Law 13.3: distance and quick free kicks
• The IFAB — Laws of the Game 2026/27, Law 15.2: delayed throw-ins
• The IFAB — Laws of the Game 2026/27, Law 16.2: delayed goal kicks
• The IFAB — 2026/27 Throw-in and goal-kick countdown protocol — signal, countdown, transferred restart and in-process exception.
• The IFAB — Changes to the Laws of the Game 2026/27, Laws 3, 12, 15 and 16
• The IFAB — Circular no. 32, 31 March 2026 — approval, 1 July 2026 effective date and transition window.

Checked against The IFAB's English 2026/27 live Laws, both tempo-management protocols, official change record and Circular no. 32 on 26 August 2026. Competition regulations must be read alongside this baseline to confirm the edition used during transition and any authorised modification; this page does not cover futsal, beach soccer or unaffiliated small-sided codes.