The cockamamy idea to extend football's half-time duration has been shot on sight by IFAB. 

Football's lawmakers rejected the proposal at a meeting on Thursday, but did propose to extend the use of five substitutes per game.

Stretching the normal 15-minute half-time break to 25 minutes was brought to the table by South American confederation, CONMEBOL.

However, an IFAB statement read, "Several members shared their concerns, particularly regarding the potential negative impact on player welfare and safety resulting from a longer period of inactivity.

"It was decided on this basis that this proposal would not be taken forward."

Originally introduced following the initial pandemic break, the use of five substitutes per top-flight game will likely gain permanence in the spring.

IFAB decided that five subs per side, per game, should remain from the 2022/23 season. The move will be put to their AGM in Zurich on March 4-5. The number of windows in which to make those substitutions will remain at three.

The trial of concussion substitutes will be extended from its original end date of August 2022, to August 2023. More than 100 competitions have participated in the trial, but "very few concussion incidents have been reported since the beginning of the trial in January 2021".

Meanwhile, goalkeepers must still not move forward from their line at penalties until the ball is struck, but goalkeepers will not be punished for having a foot behind the line.

And FIFA provided an update on future innovations that could allow competitions with limited budgets to access and use VAR technology, and on the latest developments with systems to help video match officials determine offside situations more quickly and accurately (so-called “semi-automated offside technology”).

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