World football governing body, Fifa says abandoned World Cup qualifiers will be restarted from the point the clock stopped.
The introduction of the rule that will see abandoned games restarted from the same point comes a month after the same regulation was employed in England women’s European under-19 championship match against Norway.
That match was restarted with three minutes of injury time to be played, and England 2-1 down with a penalty to take, following a refereeing error.
Players must also produce a valid passport 24 hours before kick-off to reduce eligibility infringements.
“A player without a valid passport shall not be entitled to play,” the new rule states. “Identity cards or other supporting official documents shall not be accepted.”
The text of rule 19.3 in 2018 World Cup regulations had no equivalent in the previous tournament’s document.
In 2014 World Cup qualifying groups, ineligible players proved the biggest administrative problem for Fifa.
Africa was the only one of Fifa’s six continental confederations that had problems with federations failing to gain proper clearance for players.
Burkina Faso, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Liberia, Sudan and Togo fielded players who did not have valid clearance, forcing Fifa to award 3-0 wins to their opponents.
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