Brighton boss aims dig at Arsenal as he demands rule change over corner dark arts

Martin Macdonald

• 3 Mar 2026 09:01 CST
• 5 min read

News

Brighton boss Fabian Hurzeler believes the Premier League needs to look at the rules surrounding the time it takes to take a corner kick and the wrestling that goes on inside the box during a set-piece.

That debate is ongoing at the moment following Arsenal's 2-1 victory against Chelsea on Sunday, in which all three goals were scored from corners.

William Saliba and Jurrien Timber scored for Arsenal, while Chelsea got on the scoresheet via an own-goal from Piero Hincapie.

The reliance on set-pieces for a team at the top of the league has been the talking point of the week and many fans and pundits have been debating as to whether the English top-flight has lost some of its entertainment value.

3 - There were more goals scored from corners in Arsenal 2-1 Chelsea (3) than there were in every Premier League meeting between Guardiola's Man City and Klopp's Liverpool combined (2 in 16 games). 43 of the 46 non-penalty goals in those games were from open play. Halcyon. pic.twitter.com/UUREaLnsJ6

— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) March 3, 2026

That Arsenal versus Chelsea match was noted for the amount of pulling, shoving and grappling that went on inside the box during corner, while it was recently confirmed that Arsenal take 44 seconds to take corners, on average.

It's been described by some as Mikel Arteta adopting football 'dark arts' to win games.

"It disturbs the rhythm of the game and there are no clear rules any more, how much time you can spend for a corner, how much time you can spend for a throw-in," Hurzeler said ahead of his side's match against the Gunners on Wednesday.

"Some of the blockings or the way teams are blocking, there is no clear rule. Sometimes the referee whistles and it’s a foul, sometimes he doesn’t whistle.

"I think that’s why we have this topic at the moment, but for me the main topic is make a clear rule for how much time you can waste for a corner, for a throw-in, for a free-kick.

"No-one recognises it, but when Arsenal have a corner and they are leading, sometimes they spend over a minute just to take a corner.

"Therefore we just have to make clear rules, because then in the end we have a natural game time of 50 minutes instead of sometimes 65 minutes.

"The game is changing so much if you don’t have natural game time for all the games. We analyse it and the difference is just massive.

Hurzeler believes that match-going fans are being short-changed by the amount of action they see in a particular game.

"I am of the opinion that every supporter who pays a lot of money to watch our games should see the same natural game time," the German continued.

"They want to see a football event, they don’t want to see maybe 50 minutes a game and for 40 minutes it’s not running.

"We won’t change these rules immediately, so we know how important set pieces are.

"I always mention they can be game changer, so we have to use it as well, be very efficient in scoring goals, more efficient in creating chances from corners and free-kicks and always try to defend them well."

New rules to combat time-wasting

The International Football Association Board (IFAB) has ratified several law changes that will affect refereeing at the 2026 World Cup and beyond.

IFAB has approved several more countdowns, similar to the eight-second time limit already in force for goalkeepers to release the ball. There will be a five-second time limit on goalkicks and throw-ins, with possession going to the opposition if a player takes too long.

Players who are substituted will have to leave the field within 10 seconds, while players who receive treatment have to stay off the pitch for a minute, rather than 30 seconds as is currently the rule in the Premier League. Both of these rules were trialled in Major League Soccer.

The current exemptions will continue to apply, so if a player is booked for a challenge, the opposition player who required treatment will not be forced to remain off the pitch for a minute.

Goalkeepers are also still exempt from this rule, with IFAB unable to reach a consensus on what to do about so-called "tactical timeouts" (goalkeepers feigning injury). Further trials and innovations are required on that front.

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