Anti-Emi Martinez rule to be enforced by FIFA from 2023/24 season

Emiliano Martinez was recently named FIFA’s The Best Goalkeeper of 2022. And now, the anti-Emi Martinez rule is in the works, to make the Argentine shotstopper’s antics truly unique. 

One of the most distinct features of the Aston Villa player is his ability to trash talk opponents before penalties. His mind games led to the team winning the 2022 World Cup on penalties, but there was a lot of shithousery involved. And now, FIFA are planning to introduce a new rule which will prevent the goalkeeper from engaging with the penalty taker before their spot kick. 

Anti-Emi Martinez rule to be introduced after World Cup antics 

The Argentine was vital to their World Cup win, but he distracted the France players enough to earn a yellow card in the shootout. He did the same during the 2021 Copa America, which Argentina also won. 

And this has prompted other goalkeepers to follow his actions and try to distract penalty takers. But FIFA’s new anti-Emi Martinez rule will prevent the goalkeepers from talking to the penalty taker, touching the net or the posts or stepping off their line before the shot is taken. 

In addition, FIFA are also planning to introduce a stopwatch system into the game. This will result in the clock being stopped every time the ball goes out of play so that the actual time that football is played ends up being 90 minutes.