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- A never-before-seen moment occurred in the Club World Cup on Tuesday night
- The incident happened in a game between Ulsan HD and Mamelodi Sundowns
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A referee enforced a new rule for the first time ever at the Club World Cup on Tuesday night.
Korean side Ulsan HD and South African outfit Mamelodi Sundowns faced each other in a Group F clash that was played out in front of a little over 3,000 fans at a 25,500-seater stadium in Orlando.
It was a largely forgettable contest until a never-before-seen moment occurred in the 83rd minute.
With Mamelodi 1-0 up and looking to hold onto their advantage, goalkeeper Ronwen Williams claimed the ball in his penalty box and proceeded to attempt to run down the clock.
He bounced the ball once and looked around before booting the ball upfield, but the referee’s whistle went to penalise him for holding onto the ball for longer than eight seconds.
Refereeing chiefs announced recently that they would be introducing a new rule at the Club World Cup that would see a corner awarded to the opposition if the goalkeeper holds the ball for eight seconds or more, and it was enforced by Clement Turpin on Tuesday night.
The referee is supposed to hold up his fingers for the goalkeeper to show that he is counting down, and Turpin signalled that he had done this as he ran towards Williams to explain his decision.
Fortunately for Williams, the corner came to nothing and Mamelodi held on for a 1-0 win, but it could have been a costly error.
Time-wasting by goalkeepers has become a much-maligned issue in football, with fans growing increasingly frustrated with them holding onto the ball for lengthy periods to take time out of the game.
Some shot-stoppers even flop to the ground and lie on the ball for what feels like an eternity, yet they very rarely get punished.
On this occasion, Williams was caught out but his time-wasting did not lead to a goal.
Williams rose to fame at last year’s Africa Cup of Nations when he saved four penalties in South Africa’s quarter-final shootout win over Cape Verde.
South Africa were subsequently knocked out on penalties by Nigeria in the semi-finals.
Williams has now returned to the spotlight for his role in a unique moment, and will hope not to be penalised again for the rest of the tournament.
The eight-second rule is also due to be used in the Premier League next season, and goalkeepers have now been put on notice that it is being taken seriously by officials.
