New IFAB World Cup refereeing ruling claims first victim as Iceland concede goal with 10 men against Japan

The incident occurred late in Iceland’s friendly with World Cup-bound Japan, playing in their final match before they head to the USA, Mexico and Canada this summer.

There was also an emotional guard of honour for former Southampton defender Maya Yoshida, who played his 127th and final match for Japan.

With the scores tied at 0-0, Iceland manager Arnar Gunnlaugsson was looking to make two substitutes to try and find an impressive winner.

But, in the end, only one of the substitutes was immediately allowed on to the pitch, with Isak Thorvaldsson having to wait for a minute before he was allowed on, and Iceland having to play with 10 men.

This was because the player who was being substituted, Kristian Hlynsson, did not exit the field at the nearest point within 10 seconds.

And, within the minute that Thorvaldsson had to wait on the sideline, Iceland kicked the ball out for a goal kick and Japan managed to go from back to front to eventually score the winning goal through a Koki Ogawa header.

The incident came on the same day that it was announced that IFAB, the game’s laws regulator, and FIFA are looking to clamp down on time-wasting during the World Cup.

It was announced yesterday teams would not be allowed to take advantage when goalkeepers go down injured, with players not being allowed to head to the sidelines, and instead having to stay where they are or head to the centre of the pitch.

Tactical time-wasting became a major point of contention at several points during this season, and FIFA Referees Committee chairman Pierluigi Collina told the BBC: "The goalkeeper has the right to be injured, but the players do not have the right to leave the field of play to have a sort of timeout with their respective coaches."

Further new laws for the World Cup regarding time-wasting include there being a throw-in countdown, a goal-kick countdown and players needing to leave the field for a minute if they go down injured, barring specific exceptions.

As well as changes regarding time-wasting, in which Collina said referees would be "proactive", there are also set to be additional powers granted to VAR at the World Cup.

This will include penalising attacking fouls that occur before the ball is in play from set-pieces, with VAR allowed to look at them.

While corners can also be reviewed by VAR, as can second yellow cards.

Another area that was hugely controversial earlier this season was players covering their mouths.

This will now result in an automatic red card if it is done in ”confrontation" following the incident between Benfica’s Gianluca Prestianni and Real Madrid’s Vinicius Jr.

Prestianni was accused of racially abusing Vinicius with a hand over his mouth, and he was subsequently banned for six UEFA matches for homophobic conduct.

"If the conversation is friendly, they can continue to do it without any problem," Collina added.

"When the conversation is confrontational, covering the mouth means that you are doing something very wrong, potentially, and the sanction is the red card."

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