Manchester City star Kevin De Bruyne is the latest player to issue a harsh reply to new Premier League rules. The top-flight division, along with the English Football League, revealed new extra time rule changes ahead of the 2023/24 season. These tweaks focus on time-wasting during matches.

Under the new laws, referees are instructed to add significant time to games if they see any players deliberately wasting time. This also now includes dead time during free kicks, corners, and goal kicks. Yellow cards can be handed out more freely for these infractions as well.

Midfield maestro says no one wants extra time rule changes

The move, however, hasn’t gone over very well with some players. De Bruyne recently came out to say that the extra time rule changes will essentially add extra matches to an already-packed schedule. The Belgian star shared his opinion on the changes after his team’s defeat against Arsenal in the Community Shield on Sunday. Arsenal scored the game-tying goal in the 11th minute of added time. The Gunners then eventually won the match on penalties.

“We spoke to the Arsenal players and even the referees [about it] – they don’t even want to do it, but it’s the new rule and it’s what it is,” proclaimed De Bruyne. “A game like today, even the first half with three minutes extra, you can only guess what’s going to happen if you play a lower team who keep time-wasting all the time.”

“Today we played 12 to 13 minutes [extra]. I can see games going for 20-25 minutes [more]. I think this will change in one to two months, but this is the first game. I’m thinking if we play Sevilla [in the UEFA Super Cup] on Wednesday and have 15-20 extra minutes and then play on Saturday again [against Newcastle] it’s like two times extra time. We’ll see how it goes, but it doesn’t make any sense.”

FIFA implemented similar rules at previous World Cup

De Bruyne became the second Premier League star to publicly disagree with the rule change. Manchester United defender Raphael Varane echoed the Manchester City midfielder’s sentiments regarding an already crowded fixture list earlier in the week. The France international also claimed that many players and coaches do not agree with the change.

FIFA has been attempting to alter the rules since the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. Matches at the tournament regularly featured access added time. The governing body has insisted that once players are used to the rule change, added time will begin to decrease. Sunday’s Community Shield lasted a total of 105 minutes and 45 seconds. This was about seven minutes longer than the average Premier League match last season.

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