By: Oluwaseun Lawal

Big changes are coming to the Premier League this season. First up: goalkeepers. If they hold the ball for more than eight seconds, guess what? The other team gets a corner. Yep, no more hiding behind the six-second rule that hardly ever got enforced. Now, refs will actually count down from five seconds to warn keepers. It’s all about stopping time-wasting — finally.

This isn’t just a Premier League thing, by the way. It’s a new law across all football. We even saw it in action at the Club World Cup.

Then, there’s the captain’s role. Only captains can now approach referees during matches. No more random players running up to argue or complain. If anyone else tries, they risk a yellow card for disrespect. And if the captain’s a goalkeeper? Teams can name a different player to talk to the ref before kickoff. Makes sense, right?

Oh, and penalties got a tweak too. If a player accidentally touches the ball twice while taking a penalty — but still scores — they get to retake it. This rule was already tested in the Women’s Euro final. England’s Beth Mead slipped and double-touched her penalty, scored, but had to retake it. Unfortunately, her second shot was saved. Under the old rules, she wouldn’t have gotten a second chance at all.

So yeah, some fresh rules to keep the game fair and flowing better. Let’s see how it all plays out on the pitch.