"He's not injured." Pat Nevin said it plainly, and most people watching Chelsea's FA Cup semi-final against Leeds on Sunday thought the same thing. Robert Sanchez went down, waved for the medical staff, and handed Enzo Maresca's side a free timeout while clinging to a narrow lead. Leeds fans booed. Ethan Ampadu was angry enough to physically walk into Chelsea's team huddle to break it up. The reaction told you everything about how brazen it looked.
The tactic isn't new. Every manager in world football has used a version of it at some point. But the Wembley incident has sharpened focus on it — and now IFAB, the body that sets the laws of the game, is moving to trial a series of rule changes designed to make it costly rather than clever.
Four Trials, One Problem
The proposals are set to run during the 2026/27 season. The Women's Super League has already volunteered to participate. The Premier League has been approached too, with IFAB reviewing findings in March next year.
Here's what's actually on the table:
- Trial 1: Any player receiving treatment must leave the pitch for a full minute (up from 30 seconds). If the goalkeeper is the one going down, an outfield player must also exit — keeping the numbers equal.
- Trial 2: Same structure, but the outfield player leaves for two full minutes. Ten vs eleven for a considerable stretch. That's a genuine deterrent, though critics worry it could punish players with real injuries.
- Trial 3: Already in use in the NWSL. Players cannot move toward the technical area when play stops for injury — they either stay near the incident or retreat to their own half. Coaches who breach this face disciplinary action.
- Trial 4: A hybrid of trials 1 and 3. Goalkeeper goes down, players can't approach the touchline, and an outfield player must leave for a minute when play restarts.
Which One Would Actually Work?
Trial 3 is the most surgical fix for what happened at Wembley specifically — it stops the team talk without punishing anyone for getting treatment. But it doesn't stop the time-wasting itself. A goalkeeper can still fake a knock and eat 90 seconds of clock while teammates stand in their own half doing nothing useful.
Trials 1 and 2 hit harder. Making a team play short while their keeper gets his breath back flips the incentive entirely. Suddenly faking an injury becomes a gamble, not a free card. Trial 2 especially — two minutes at ten men late in a game is a real risk. That changes the calculation in the dugout.
The concern about discouraging genuinely injured players from seeking treatment is legitimate, but not insurmountable. Referees already have discretion. The issue isn't the rule; it's the enforcement. A well-designed trial, properly refereed, should handle that.
Chelsea's odds of reaching the FA Cup final came through fine on Sunday. Whether Sanchez's gamble shifts the way these moments are policed going forward is a different question — and one IFAB finally seems serious about answering.
