FIFA wants to stop players wasting time and will recommend that referees automatically book players who prevent opponents restarting play.

The International Football Association Board, which includes representatives from the English, Scottish, Welsh and Northern Ireland FAs as well as FIFA, will make the proposal at its next meeting in Lucerne on March 4.

FIFA wants a yellow card for any player who takes the ball to prevent an opponent taking a throw-in, free kick or corner kick, or if the player tries to delay the restart after a goal is scored.

The board also will be hear evidence from the experiment at the Under-17 World Cup in Peru, where balls were implanted with a microchip to signal to the referee whether they had crossed the goal lines. The high-tech balls were intended to be used as this summer’s World Cup finals in Germany, but it is understood that FIFA are still not satisfied with the technology and further tests will be carried out at a later date.

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