The World Cup in the US, Canada and Mexico is at the door, and FIFA decided to change the rules right before the start - and several at once. The goal, the top brass say, is to cut down on time-wasting and reduce disputed decisions. The question is whether the rules will do that, or just create new areas to argue over.

The most interesting change concerns a trick as old as football itself: the goalkeeper "gets injured" at a key moment, lies on the grass, and while the medics come, players from both teams gather around the benches and listen to the coach. At the World Cup this will no longer be allowed. When the goalkeeper receives treatment, players must stay on the pitch - no informal timeout courtesy of the "injury."

Head of referees Pierluigi Collina confirmed the coaches of all 48 national teams have already been informed that referees will be stricter about these huddles. "Referees will act proactively to prevent such gatherings," Collina said. Which doesn't mean coaches are left with no way to pass a message to the players - it just means they'll no longer do it through a fake injury.

The second big change is expanding VAR's remit. Until now video referees couldn't intervene for fouls committed before a corner or free kick was taken. Now, if an attacker commits a foul before the restart - for example illegally blocking a defender - and it directly affects a goal, penalty or card, VAR will be able to react. In such cases the referee will order the corner to be retaken instead of awarding the goal.

There are also smaller moves against time-wasting: stricter limits on throw-ins and goal kicks, a substituted player must leave the pitch within 10 seconds, and one who received treatment off the pitch will have to stay out at least 60 seconds before returning. And one more item that will spark discussion - players who cover their mouths during an argument with an opponent can get a red card, because FIFA sees it as an attempt to hide offensive language.

On paper, all of this sounds reasonable. On the pitch, every new rule also means a new chance for a refereeing error - and the World Cup is exactly the place where one wrong decision is remembered for years. Will the rules make football faster and fairer, or just provide new things to argue about after the matches?