MLS referees get tough on player behaviour: What are the new rules?
Last weekend saw three players fined for failing to leave the field after a red card, the latest part of a disciplinary crackdown.
MLS officials have started to clamp down on on-field behaviour, implementing a series of new rules and handing out harsher punishments for players.
Last weekend three players were fined for failing to leave the field in a timely manner after receiving a red card. Stefan Frei (Seattle Sounders), Diego Charla (Portland Timbers) and Griffin Dorsey (Houston Dynamo) were all hit with the additional punishment as MLS looks to stamp out ill-discipline.
Frei’s red card, coming in the 28th minute of the game against DC United, was later rescinded on appeal, meaning that he will be eligible to take on LA Galaxy next weekend. The goalkeeper’s fine, however, remains.
What are MLS’ new time-wasting rules?
This disciplinary crackdown came just a week after the league officially introduced a series of new rules designed to curb time-wasting in the game. The league’s ‘off-field treatment rule’ and ‘timed substitution rule’ were trialled in MLS Next Pro last year and yielded impressive results.
The off-field treatment rule requires medical staff to remove players from the field of play before continuing with their assessment, allowing the match to restart and creating a less pressurised situation in which to treat the player. The rule applies to any incident in which the player is on the ground for 15 seconds or more, but exemptions are in place for serious medical issues, head injuries, goalkeepers and serious fouls.
In the 18 months after this rule was adopted in MLS Next Pro, officials recorded an 80% drop in the number of extended stoppages due to medical treatment.
MLS referees have also started to implement a timed substitution rule to reduce time-wasting towards the end of games. Substitution windows now have a 10 second limit, with the incoming player required to wait another 60 seconds if the playing leaving the field exceeds that threshold. Their team will have to play the following minute with one fewer players. Again, there are exceptions for goalkeeping substitutions and injuries.
Across 2023 there were 3,150 substitutions in MLS Next Pro, with just ten instances of time violations. In the playoffs not a single player took more than 10 seconds to leave the field, showing how effective the measure has been.
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