Have they change a quick physio treatment after a yellow you don’t need to leave the FOP. Was that Henderson treatment within ‘quickly treated’ definitio?
I actually think (and I've said this in previous discussions on the topic) that in most cases, referees in the top leagues and competitions have not been getting the intent of this law right. Up until this World Cup, I don't think I've seen more than two occasions when this provision has been used to let an injured player stay on the field after the opponent is cautioned.
Which, given the length of time the law has been in place, is way too few, IMHO. And it looks as if perhaps the IFAB agrees with me, and referees have been told to invoke it more often.
What the Guidelines for Match Officials section says, is that:
As a general guide, the restart should not be delayed for more than about 20–25 seconds beyond the point when everyone was ready for play to restart.
However people seem to be acting as if what it says is that if the player is not ready within 20-25 seconds from the time the trainer comes on, make them leave anyway. Which is not what the law says or (I believe) intends.
I thought Henderson was pretty much ready by the time the ref had finished cautioning Ramsey and setting up for the free kick to be taken - or at least that he was, before a further 25 seconds had elapsed. So I reckon the way this was done is more in keeping with the way the law was supposed to work in the first place.
There was also another game (can't remember which one now) when the injured player was allowed to stay on after the caution in circumstances where I think in most of their league games the same referee would have made the player leave the pitch.
From what I've seen, I suspect some kind of instruction has been issued to referees, telling them that in these situations, they should err on the side of letting the player stay on the field more often.
