A time-wasting goalkeeper ended up with egg on his face after being reprimanded for falling foul of the fabled six-second rule.
The six-second rule, which is not usually enforced by referees, concerns how long goalkeepers are allowed to hold the ball inside the box. The rule states that an indirect free kick is awarded "if a goalkeeper, inside their penalty area, controls the ball with the hand/arm for more than six seconds before releasing it."
However, as anyone who has watched a game of football in the last 20 years will tell you, the rule has only be enforced on a handful of occasions. But, unfortunately for Inter Turku goalkeeper Eetu Huuhtanen, last Friday's match against VPS in the Finnish top division proved to be one of those rare exceptions to the rule.
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In a clip posted on Twitter by a Finnish football fan, Huuhtanen was seen to be holding onto the ball in his own box for a remarkable 22 seconds. The fan even provided a clock to allow viewers to keep track of the goalkeeper's antics.
Thankfully, the referee was keeping track of Huuhtanen's blatant attempt at time-wasting and promptly awarded a free-kick to VPS. The set-piece from just inside the box was hammered home by Peter Michael to inflict the ultimate punishment on Huuhtanen and give VPS a slender 1-0 lead.
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English football fans had little sympathy for the goalkeeper. One wrote: "They need to start doing this in the Premier League Bring Finnish refs in." Another said: "Love this exactly how it should be done."
A third added: "A rule that is never applied almost everywhere. Well done to the referee." While a fourth commented: "Mad what this would change in the Prem. Mad that referees actually follow the rules isn't it." Others laughed at the goalkeeper as his "s***house" tactics backfired.
Unfortunately for the hosts, their lead didn't last as Matias Tamminen levelled things up with around ten minutes remaining. The result kept VPS in third spot in the Championship round of the Veikkausliiga season, ensuring they remain on course for a Europa Conference League qualification spot next season.
Inter Turku, meanwhile, who won the Veikkausliiga in 2006, are bottom of the pile in the Championship round table, with very little hope of securing a European place next season.