Former Manchester United captain Gary Neville feels that a newly ushered World Cup will be a welcome change to the game.
The biggest tournament in football is kicking off on Thursday with an opening fixture pitting co-hosts Mexico against South Africa.
While football fans all around the globe will certainly tune in for the grand opener, the excitement will only increase when the tournament’s favourites start taking the field in the coming days, the likes of record-holders Brazil, defending champions Argentina, top favourites Spain and France, and perennial contenders England and Germany.
Nevertheless, football fans who follow the sport religiously might try to catch every match in the tournament, even though many will be hampered by their unfavourable time zones. Many of them will be keen to wager on the matches, but they must make sure they choose the right platform for World Cup Betting, one that provides them with a safe experience and fair earnings.
The grand tournament will also witness many firsts. While the extended 48-team format is the most obvious change from previous editions, FIFA will also take the opportunity to introduce a set of rules in the aim of improving the game.
In the new regulations, substituted players must leave the pitch at the nearest exit and within 10 seconds. If they stay any longer, the substitute will be forced to wait for one minute before entering the field, leaving his team with a numerical disadvantage.
Interestingly, Japan took full advantage of this rule in a pre-tournament friendly, scoring a goal while an Icelandic player was waiting on the sidelines.
Gary Neville pleased with newly-introduced FIFA rules
For his part, Man Utd legend Gary Neville believes this new rule will certainly improve the flow of the game, and prevent players from time-wasting.
“I think this is an unbelievable introduction – time-limited substitutions,” said the 51-year-old during his latest appearance on The Overlap podcast (via Metro).
“It’s so annoying watching players walk off slowly. The players and teams are gaming the system.
“You can criticise FIFA for many things, but I do think they get their referee stuff right. I think those are pretty good introductions and will make the game better for the fans.”
The new rules will also result in more interruptions due to VAR checks, with the video-assistant referees granted more powers.
The VAR will also look into corners and will be able to check player dismissals due to a second yellow card, rather than only looking into direct red cards.
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