Referees could be forced into ‘long throw clampdown’ as Premier League spots shock stat

REFEREES could be ordered to clamp down on time-wasting at throw-ins and corners as lawmakers consider how to speed up the game.

SunSport reported how Premier League insiders have pointed to the return of the long throw as a regular attacking weapon for the loss of “ball in play” time already this season.

Use of the ball being hurled into the box has more than doubled in the opening four weekends of the season, with Brentford being the new prime exponents of the strategy.

Figures provided by Stats Perform show that across the 40 top-flight games, the ball has only been in play for an average of 54 minutes and 21 seconds, down 133 seconds from last season’s average.

One reason identified is that the extra number of long throws has seen more teams sending their centre-backs up into the opposition box.

A similar amount of positioning, by both attacking and defending sides, at corner kicks, has also been noticed, with many sides now having specialist set-piece coaching teams.

And fears that deliberate delay is becoming built into the game by the tactical twist may now see lawmakers Ifab consider adopting a version of the new “eight-second countdown” for goalkeepers into the restart when the ball goes out of play.

Burnley’s Martin Dubravka is the only keeper to have been penalised at the cost of a corner so far this season – in his side’s opening game at Spurs – but there are discussions about adopting a similar approach for throw-ins and corners.

It is felt that imposing official time limits on restarts will help to both speed up play and ensure the ball is on the pitch for longer over the course of a match.

Any such change would have to be agreed by Ifab, which holds its decision-making AGM in Wales in February.

But Ifab chiefs almost always agree to conduct trials of a significant potential law change before rolling it out worldwide.

So it may be a while yet before the stopwatch is out.