A referee in Finland’s top division blew his whistle for a call that you hardly ever see in professional soccer. It’s a rule that’s often broken but hardly ever called as the referee blew his whistle for the goalkeeper time wasting.
Goalkeeper 6 seconds rule broken
Eetu Huuhtanen is the goalkeeper for Finnish side Inter Turku and he was the one penalized for time wasting. Seeing goalkeepers receive yellow cards for taking too long on a goal kick is normal.
It’s incredibly rare to see a goalkeeper get called out for breaking the “six seconds rule” of holding the ball for too long. The rule states that an indirect free kick is given “if a goalkeeper, inside their penalty area, controls the ball with the hand/arm for more than six seconds before releasing it."
Referees turn a blind eye toward this rule, however Huuhtanen held the ball for a ridiculous 22 SECONDS.
⏰ 'An indirect free kick is awarded if the goalkeeper holds the ball in his hands for more than 6 seconds' — do not time waste in Finland! pic.twitter.com/VIOX4VRYvQ
— EuroFoot (@eurofootcom) October 1, 2023
The strangest part about this scenario is that it took place in the 65th minute with the scored tied at 0-0. What is the point of time wasting that early in the game if you’re not even winning?
VPS were awarded the indirect free kick with Peter Godly Michael scoring the goal. Now that’s a badass name.
The last time I can recall seeing a referee penalize a goalkeeper for breaking the six seconds rule was in the 2012 Olympics when the USWNT defeated Canada. The U.S. were awarded an indirect free kick for Canada’s goalkeeper holding the ball for too long.
The indirect free kick would then lead to a penalty kick call and the U.S. won the game 4-3 in extra time.
