This isn't going to reduce time wasting. Very few throw ins are already long throws, and the vast majority of time wasting from throw-ins does not come as a result of long throws or people drying off the ball.

@rey7616

10 ай бұрын

true, hopefully they'll be more ball placement around the field as stated in the video so that players can get dry ball immediately. then again, time wasting will always be there. smh

@Taraferreday

10 ай бұрын

I dunno I’ve been to a few league one games where bigger teams spend ages drying the ball allowing there team to all run to the box

@Kanbei11

10 ай бұрын

Welcome to the rule makers where they tinker around the edges instead of making actual changes for the better of the game. Tifo mention timewasting here but that's already a yellow card offence but you'd be forgiven for thinking that it wasn't given how rarely they're given.

@jamiehill2671

10 ай бұрын

Most of the time wasting on throw ins comes from deciding who will throw in the ball, and standing there trying to figure out where to throw it in. Maybe figuring out some better throw in procedure and time limit, like there is in Basketball, may speed things up. That, and actually enforcing some of the rules (carding players earlier in the game for time wasting).

@georgemanize

10 ай бұрын

if they want to get rid of time wasting the ref should give yellows left and right even for the smallest amount of time wasting.

Timewasting has been an offence for as long as I can remember. Why not simply book those players who take excess time drying the ball after a throw in?

@rezaimran98

10 ай бұрын

Booking a player also takes time. So they wanna save as much time as possible.

@4glassmilk635

10 ай бұрын

@@rezaimran98 yea but if you book them they'll be less inclined to ever do it, so after a while you see very few players time wasting

@Kanbei11

10 ай бұрын

@@rezaimran98 That's still a short term thing though as players would start facing disciplinary action, especially when they started to get second yellows for it. The main thing I fear is that enforcement would be selective, especially with the quality of officiating last season

@jayme3181

10 ай бұрын

@@Kanbei11 They brought in a rule to address ball in play at the World Cup that led to 20 minutes of added on time. That was their preferred idea, this is the next one. These people are morons.

@browngaymethodistjesuschri1361

9 ай бұрын

Time wasting is an offence? Mind proving such a crazy accusation please?

Only 54 minutes of actual play time in a 90 minute game is insane, time wasting is a plague

I understand the ban on towels as no other aids are allowed, but long throws are no different to corners, and if a team can utilise them to their advantage, then why not.

@drunkenhobo8020

10 ай бұрын

Nah they're very different. Corners you kick with your feet, whilst long throws you use your hands.

@Phantom-ez4zv

10 ай бұрын

Drunkken@ You stating the obvious

@chickentikkamosalah

10 ай бұрын

@@drunkenhobo8020WOW! Breaking news!

@danarseptiyanto4066

10 ай бұрын

I don't feel like FA is discouraging the long throws, but just make it fair for everyone else

@crispykneecaps7209

10 ай бұрын

As a goalkeeper I can say that facing a long throw is much more intimidating than a corner.

Fans: "we want competent refs" Authorities: "lEtS bAn ToWeLlZ"

@Kanbei11

10 ай бұрын

Welcome to the football authorities doing nothing whilst wanting to look like they're doing something.

@kyal

10 ай бұрын

Please tell me how we’re going to get “competent refs” when we already have England’s best referees officiating in the premier league. Get rid of existing referees = get worse, more inexperienced referees in return.

@whufc-essex

10 ай бұрын

@@kyal current refs are diabolical, it shouldn't be too hard to train better refs

@zinetx

9 ай бұрын

@@kyal If the best refs in England just magically forget to draw a line in VAR, literally their own job, and make the other team lose 2 points in a title race, then I'd bet on using more inexperienced but younger refs.

@browngaymethodistjesuschri1361

9 ай бұрын

@@kyalyou’re not watching the same sport

If UEFA want the games to have a full 90 minutes with the ball in play, then get every team to have extra long extra time added on like in the Qatar World Cup, yeah, it got comical, but at least the ball was being played for 90 minutes

@mcsqueeb187

10 ай бұрын

I thought it was a good change, make time wasting pointless and teams will stop doing it.

@NeilAlvin

10 ай бұрын

or stop the clock when out of play, but I suspect this is more about TV time slots than actual playing time. They want a game to be over in 2 and a half to 3 hours max. When TV/Broadcasting is where you make a ton of money, then you have to pander to them.

@thedogowl591

10 ай бұрын

Honestly it kind of adds an extra layer of tension imo.

@nathanjm000

10 ай бұрын

@@NeilAlvinthink about baseball They have this ghost runner no one asked for for the same reason

"Ball-Children"....lol.

The changes in the last 3 seasons to gameplay have all resulted in reduced and restricted goal creation opportunities.

@anthonyduffy6953

10 ай бұрын

They are determined to remove the magic of football

@haicopiatoalverofavijdegre2807

10 ай бұрын

fr tho.... goalkeepers no longer allowed to play mind games or celebrate after saving a pen.... uefa changing the ucl format.... this.... we should boycott football until they revert atleast some of these changes, but that's unlikely

@sehu1291

10 ай бұрын

All changes since VAR

@sahkogile

10 ай бұрын

@@haicopiatoalverofavijdegre2807 thats why people abandoning football after Covid

Added time in the World Cup seemed to be on point. I'm surprised it hasn't been implemented in all the major leagues afterwards.

@BeWe1510

9 ай бұрын

Because it was horrible. There was no sense anymore how far the game has progressed. Normally once the 90th minute approaches everyone knows it’s hard clutch time now but at the World Cup there was suddenly a third of a half still to play, in a game that had just normal amounts of interruptions. Plus increasing added time into the absurd only addresses half the problem, that of the low effective playing time but breaking the flow of the game is still a thing and imo that is the bigger issue

@Kanbei11

9 ай бұрын

Added time quickly dropped off once it got to the knockout stages of the WC. It also doesn't do much to keep the ball in play and you end up with more interruptions Added time is also opaque to spectators, we don't see where the ref gets it from and there's the potential for abuse (I'd argue it's already being abused) You could eliminate added time entirely by stopping the clock when the ball is out of play, if opta can get the stats then match officials can

@RaedVS

9 ай бұрын

@@Kanbei11 Yeah but then matches would drag on for hours on end like the other sports basically, won't be a 90 minute game anymore. All the tactics, training, approach, everything else has to change to accommodate that.

@midknight

9 ай бұрын

Because the premier league is controlled by bookies

@adamcetinkent

9 ай бұрын

"Hard clutch time". Jesus, how embarrassing...

Because players no longer wanna get high.

@thalente8074

10 ай бұрын

I see you're a man of culture 😏

@drex5160

10 ай бұрын

Took me a while to get this 😅 Context for the folks who dont know: he's talking about Mr. Towlie from South Park

@internetexplorer6097

10 ай бұрын

There is drug residue placed in towels they snort or inhale when rubbing their face/skin

@ricochetpig

10 ай бұрын

So there’s been a Towlie ban?

@lukied5510

10 ай бұрын

Can’t believe so many people got this

But they can still waste time by drying it on their shirt... If you really want to address time-wasting, switch to a stop-start clock like Rugby. Or, punish players for time wasting at the first instance, rather than waiting until late on in the game to give a meaningless yellow

@booradley6832

3 ай бұрын

"we cant switch to a system that makes sense because its tradition" "It would mess up tv schedules if games could go on for irregular amounts of time. I pay good money for that license" Sorry just cutting off responses before they happen.

0:05 “The long throw can be one of footballs most feared weapons, particularly in England” *war flashbacks to England vs Iceland 2016*

Maybe the regulation should be on the conduct of ball-boys, and have them dry out the extra ball before the one in play goes out, and be fast the giving to BOTH teams.

@uriustosh

10 ай бұрын

If managers were carded for time wasting by ball boys, then there would never be an issue with ball boys ever again.

@perparker5011

10 ай бұрын

Did you not watch the video? There's gonna be footballs placed around the pitch ready to be picked

@kupus6622

10 ай бұрын

It's ball children apparently now...

@salopiansessions8326

10 ай бұрын

Reckon you could count on a ball boy or ball girl to dry a ball to the same degree for both their home team and the visitors? I'm not so sure personally...

@RunningRugby4

10 ай бұрын

Yeah, what's the big deal. I genuinely love alliteration and weave it in my writings wherever and whenever i can but it's not worth potentially excluding half the population is it?

23/24 - hand driers installed around the advertising boards in the Premier League stadiums.

What if a team wore a kit made of towel material?

The FA should also be looking at goalkeeper’s time wasting ethics after gathering the ball/goal kick. Some of the teams are notorious in time wasting (eg: pickford)

I assume they have some places to keep the balls dry cuz you are going to have to wonder what happens when it rains.

@thegreathadoken6808

10 ай бұрын

That's what she said, too.

Westin Mckennie dried the ball off on a photographer’s shirt 😂😂😂

@apextheracer2022

10 ай бұрын

and everyone got mad about it whcih honestly annoyed me. photographer didnt really seem to mind, but he probbaly shouldve asked before doing so

If we're worried about time wasting and how much of a match the ball is actually in play for, just pause the time while the balls not in play and that solves literally everything. Why is this still a debate??

@davidchandra8722

10 ай бұрын

Then a football game will be extended to aprox 2 hours which will affecting television schedule etc. Unless they also reduce the actual playtime to 60 minutes (30 each half)

@zzizou82

10 ай бұрын

Because the game will be played for 2 hours +. It will become a baseball or american football match. Too much for the players and telespectators…

@bilalsadain

10 ай бұрын

Only if the clock stops at 60 instead of 90. Otherwise matches will be 2 hours+ (not counting half time)

@GuinessOriginal

10 ай бұрын

@@davidchandra8722sod the TV, they have 3 hours of analysis after each game anyway

@loading9110

10 ай бұрын

​@@davidchandra8722Fuck the TV companies. Maybe less matches on TV would encourage people to go to an actual game and watch their local teams. Some of the kids you see walking around in PSG shirts might actually stop being glory hunters too.

Premier League - ball in play for 55 minutes out of 90, and yet TV companies STILL show replays while the ball is in play. Criminals.

If they're so concerned about timewasting why cant they adopt a rugby-style clock that can be paused and resumed during stops in play?

@ViolentCabbage-ym7ko

10 ай бұрын

Maybe because the game can drag on for 2 hours including advertisements. Besides, it makes the extra time pointless

@Veodin

10 ай бұрын

@@ViolentCabbage-ym7ko The usual proposal is to move to a 60 min clock and get rid of extra time. There is talk of trials taking place to test it out.

@ViolentCabbage-ym7ko

10 ай бұрын

@@Veodin The problem with making drastic changes is that, it will come to a point that it becomes unrecognizable. Changing the timing from 90 mins to 60 mins and no extra time is a big deal because endurance of the players is also a key factor in football, along with skills and teamwork. Even changing the number of players in a team or shorten the field drastically can impact the outcome of a game.

@beaver_warrior

10 ай бұрын

​@@ViolentCabbage-ym7ko Bro the game is exactly the same. The only difference is the clock stops. If you've got the ball you can still take a quick throw. The only difference is the winning team can't gain an advantage by keeping the ball out of play. It's insane that you can seal a victory in football by not playing football.

This is one of the most entertaining videos about throw-ins I've ever watched.

To be honest I think that there can be even more time wasting now, because players will dry their balls on clothes and it can take even longer

@edwinfigueroajr6590

10 ай бұрын

That’s what I was thinking Kieran Tierney dries the ball off every throw he gets and I’ve seen him uses his shirt mostly

@victorsefan

10 ай бұрын

Its barbaric, i've alyways dried my balls on towels

@josemur8799

10 ай бұрын

Drying their balls haha

I mean if a team really wanted to continue doing this, couldn't they just design a top, shorts or socks with a small towelling area. Potentially even only the people taking throw-in's would need them.

@paulsutherland3813

10 ай бұрын

some kind of fabric-made tshirt perhaps? one where you could potentially roll a ball in the front fabric to dry the ball?

@12000gp

10 ай бұрын

That was my 1st thought, a lining inside the front of the shirt maybe

great content informative stuff

this video has everything, history, stats, big personalities, and linens. vive le tifo!

Just wait for those towels being accidentally but yet strategically placed...

Anyone remember Ian Hutchinson at Chelsea, think in the 70’s. He could reach the far post from the halfway line. His last minute throw caused panic in the Leeds defence in the cup final replay at Old Trafford leading to Webbs winner in what has become to be known as a notoriously violent game.

@cam5556

10 ай бұрын

That would be 79 metres; 20 metres further than the world record for a football throw-in.

@cam5556

10 ай бұрын

Just found a video of him, and it seems your comment may have embellished the details slightly. He was well into the opposition half, and the ball reached the near post (where it was headed onto the far post). Still a very impressive throw though.

@MIKhan-mh6fs

10 ай бұрын

@@cam5556 pls attach link don't wanna search

@MyNameIsMaxLo

10 ай бұрын

@@cam5556 please give us the keyword to the video you're talking about. youtube won't allow link to be provided on the comment section.

Prem teams really worrying about them Brentford throws 😂😂

@JabbarTV1

10 ай бұрын

Brentford play the most irritating style of football, stop play merchants

@jesthomas2199

10 ай бұрын

​@@JabbarTV1lol it's part of the game, and that's what makes it the beautiful game. The tactics teams have to come up with to counter long throws adds to the flavour of the game.

@mizuki4002

10 ай бұрын

what does "play merchant" even mean

@SilentYesEvil

10 ай бұрын

Wrexham's path up to the top has been halted.

@nenemuy

10 ай бұрын

⁠​⁠​⁠​⁠@@mizuki4002 He meant “stop play merchants”, so he’s basically complaining about the game of football itself being played a certain way by a team.

time waste will only go when clock is stopped during any stopping

@jazzx251

10 ай бұрын

double-edged sword That would mean a "countdown clock" - where a brilliant goal from 45 yards is scored, just 1 millisecond too late (verified by VAR) Some of the most exciting moments in a bad game of football come when there's an attacking set-piece at the end of the game. Technically, even the "added time" is over - but the referee ALWAYS allows one last chance for the attacking team to score a goal. That's because "added time" is kind of loose - I think it may be unique to football. I never want to see a brilliant goal disallowed because the time ran out exactly 1 millisecond before the ball crossed the line. (which would take 10 minutes to verify in the VAR booth, ironically) There's loads of much better ways of stopping time-wasting: Throw-ins ... don't want to take your throw-in promptly? That's a "foul throw", you get a yellow card, and the throw-in goes the other way, as with any other foul throw Goal kicks ... don't want to take a goal kick promptly? You get a yellow card, and it's a corner to the opposition You'd be amazed at how quick the game would be if these rules were implemented.

As others have commented, there's no rule against players wearing gloves, and something relatively thin with a grippy surface should do the job. Anything which gets rid of time wasting is a good change (at least until I can drink lager in my seat like a civilized person)

@hatepallo

10 ай бұрын

Similar gloves american football players use would fit perfectly! Also, while it is not allowed to take an item from the audience, the players could give the ball to the audience to be dried.

@zzizou82

10 ай бұрын

Gloves with grips are too sticky. The release will not be that good and too much energy will be lost for the thrower. Dry hand dry ball in my opininon is the only solution. I’m surprised nobody used talc… Solution to get above the law is : ball boy having always having a dry ball, and player hiding a min towel in his shirt or shorts

@GuinessOriginal

10 ай бұрын

@@zzizou82use chalk. They’ve banned towels, they haven’t banned chalk

@johnmcgimpsey1825

10 ай бұрын

@@hatepallo If I'm the referee, a player giving the ball to a fan to dry is an instant caution for delaying the restart.

@AM2K2

10 ай бұрын

@@zzizou82 Stoke got caught having towels stitched into their tops if I remember correctly

I was at that game mentioned. Posh and west brom. The crowd wasn't happy. Everyone I throw in was taken they would spend a good thirty seconds drying the ball before okay resumed. Wasted so much time. It was made worse by the fact that the baggies nicked a Late winner in what was a close game.

I see the bureaucrats are justifying their existence.

You know what would stop time wasting? Stop the clock when the ball is out of play. You also get rid of the need for injury time, which is seldom awarded consistently. Yes, I am a rugby fan.

If you’re the home to team and you like doing long throws you could have your ball boys drying and keeping dry the other balls around the pitch and just give your throw in taker an already dry one rather than giving them the ball that just went out of play

Finally! Couldn't stand watching the sport anymore with all those towels.

I could see a player switch out his jersey during a stoppage in the second half so they have a drier jersey to dry off the ball for a throw in.

“Towelling off ceremony” 😂

What is the chance that players who can throw long just use wrist bands instead of towels ? Pretty good substitute for a towel.

The back in track at 4:28 sounds incredibly like Dilemma - Nelly

Will this include a keepers towel for drying gloves for grip?

Right now, somewhere, Tony Pulis is punching air

i hope teams try to work around it by wearing big socks with towel sections around the top, or vest that can dry

They tactical innovation with long throws I wonder about, one that I wonder why we haven't seen more of, is the ball over the top. The throw in is one of the situations where, by definition, offside is impossible. So if you've got someone who can do a long throw, why not, every once in a while, just take off towards goal and have that guy throw it over everyone's heads. I've seen it taken advantage of one time, where our long throw specialist got the ball boy to give him the ball really quick, then basically threw a long lofted through ball to the onrushing forward. Normally, he would have been way offside, but it was a throw-in, so it didn't matter, and he went on to score.

Towelling football shirts? I’m into it

Understand this coming in however, should have just implemented the rule they used at the World Cup regarding time wasting as well as the offside technology they have in the CL

A kit manufacturer should include a towel patch on the shirts so the players can dry it.

@apextheracer2022

10 ай бұрын

the towel would get wet too, unless youre talking about under the shirt

In case someone decides to whip a victim with the end of the towel causing severe pain.

Surely its gonna waste even more time, since drying the ball with your sweaty shirt is slower and less efficient than a dry towel

I remember that West Brom game, that hoodie should've been awarded the man of the match given how much it was used. Was completely ridiculous.

Thank you

I've not watched one of these videos for a while, but this title got me.

Interesting new wrinkle to the rules. One question though: would players be allowed to wear gloves with a tacky surface to help increase their grip on a throw-in? I'm thinking the gloves used by receivers in American football where some guys can catch balls one handed. Don't know that wearing gloves over the course of a game will be especially comfortable, but I could see the time wasted in drying the ball with a towel would be similar to the time required to put on a pair of gloves before a throw-in.

Everyone mentions Rory Delap at Stoke, but I'm sure the OG long thrower with towel was Dave Challinor at Tranmere Rovers, which helped them on a giant killing cup run to the League Cup final. Almost a decade before Rory Delap. In fact, a quick google to check my facts before I make a wally of myself reveals a video of Challinor assisting from a throw at Stoke's Britannia... I wonder where Delap got the idea from... :)

If FA are really serious about more ball playing time in 90mins, they should ban any players 10 games for faking injury and time wasting ... That would add 25mins to the game for actual playing .

You think this will effect the material they use for the kits? Ultra grippy shirts?

Finally the powers that be are focussing on the issues that really matter

Have they considered a combination of cards for time wasting AND a stopping clock?!

The whole delap thing led to 5 assists? That’s what the drama was about?

@2and2makes3

10 ай бұрын

5 assists by the letter of the law. There were plenty more goals scored where Delap wasn't technically the assister, not to mention own goals, goals scored after the clearance, and the general chaos it caused.

@Jonathanizer

10 ай бұрын

5 assists in one season. That's not so bad, especially since some of those throw ins were not converted directly, so he created the danger, but did not get a scorer point. 5 assists in a season is above average for PL players as is, but just from throw ins, that is definitively noteworthy.

@TheKrostiman

10 ай бұрын

@@2and2makes3 I still think the stress was bigger than the impact on actual numbers.

Shout out to Towlie from Southpark from being part of the intro graphic

The rule makers want football to be played one way, no tactical differences, no strategy, just pass around the back for 90 mins. what a bore fest

Throw ins are already difficult enough for the possessing side, because of man marking & a numerical disadvantage. Now you want to mitigate a potential attacking threat as well? I hate time wasting as much as everyone else, but this will be so insignificant. The only real way to fix the issue is unfortunately to use a 60 minute stopping clock, but that will never happen.

1:02 'Annual AGM'

Out of all the things to be concerned about they choose towels seriously like

Is ball children really replacing ball boys? Lol

@arkadye

10 ай бұрын

At Wimbledon tennis they refer to "ball kids" as a catch ask for "ball boys and ball girls".

@ananthkrishnas3395

10 ай бұрын

@@arkadye sounds better imo

Brentford utilize long throws quite well

Towelling panel in a shirt, sorted

In South Africa the is Ryan Rae he used to wear gloves

Now the fans can come to stadium with a plaque asking if the players want their shirt.

So they can't use a towel from outside the pitch, or any item supplied by the crowd. Can they wear a towel then, like they do in the NFL?

New soccer fan, im hoping some can explain this to me. Why dont they just stop the clock when the ball goes out of bounds or when a foul is called and start it back when its kicked or thrown in? We have the technology...

Sports clothing manufacturers are going to start making undershirts from the same material as the Shanta swimmers use lol

new uniforms with a towel patch are on the way

Ben Tozer really lives up his name

Newport on a tifo video 🥲💛🖤💛🖤

Just make a patch on the front of the shirt that's towel material

a switch ro gloves with wet gripping patches then

4:30 that is hilarious

"ball children" hahahahhahahahhaha

What about the towels keepers bring with them to their goal?

dont forget to bring a towel!

Like arhan Pratama throw in. Far enough 20-35 meter throw.

Absolute rubbish by them to say that it's to improve ball on field stats. It'll only improve it for teams that utilise long throws, and they'll waste as much time (or more) wiping it on their jerseys. If they want to improve ball on field % then they must accurately manage time wastage in added time.

Should just go to a 60 minute in play clock with the crowd able to see it. Ball out of play, or referees whilstle clock stops. When thrown or kicked clock starts.

No way that you just said "ball-children" hahahahaha

“Ball children” I know it’s probably the right thing to say now…but it just sounds wrong 😂

The time wasting excuse is laughable, Pretending that long throw ins are even a drop in the bucket is just ignoring 90% of what happens in a football match

Dammn de laps throws were mental

Here's an idea. Define clear and obvious to mean it only takes 30 seconds of VAR review. That would get a lot of time back.

to reduce time wasting just make the timer run like in futsal, when game is stopped timer stops, problem solved.

What's the opposition to accurate time keeping when the ball goes out of play stop the clock until play resumes?

@orsomethingorno

10 ай бұрын

One argument that FIFA/IFAB are quite keen on is that it creates a separation between grassroots (where there are insufficient resources to enforce time-in-play timing) with the professional game. The idea being that the Laws should be (as much as possible) the same for everyone to maintain the connection between different levels of the game. Personally, I don't buy the argument. Just make a game of football 60 minutes of ball in play, with the game continuing after the buzzer until the ball goes out for a goal kick, throw-in, or goal. (fouls, drop-balls, and corners not counting), and write some alternatives into the Laws for grassroots. Add in time limits to put the ball back in play once the ball is available, with the restart forfeited to the other team if you take too long.

@grmthmpsn

10 ай бұрын

@@orsomethingorno Forfeiting the restart is explaitable though, what would stop an opposing player not backing away from a free kick to cause a forfeit. What they did in the WC with stoppage time being extended to include any timewasting is the better choice.

@orsomethingorno

10 ай бұрын

@@grmthmpsn I mean, the clock can start when the opponents have retreated and the ball is available. And you can penalize them for their time wasting too.

Only 54 minutes of actual gameplay, and these crybabies demanded two extra substitutions in a match? I remember back when you got one substitution. Before that you got zero and if someone got injured bad enough to come out of the game tough luck you just played a man short. Granted that was pretty extreme the other way, but i think three substitutes was adequate, especially considering how much time they are actually playing. I wouldn't doubt that time wasting was worse back in the days of no subs, but even as old as I am that was before my time.

"Towels banned" sounds more like a South Park episode than a Tifo football video

The law does only prevent players from drying the balls. Ball kids drying the balls before placing them on the cones does not seem like it's prohibited?

Don’t think it’ll reduce time wasting. Players will take longer to dry the ball if they don’t have a dry towel to use. And even with a dry multi ball system handing it them as soon as it goes out they’d still have to wait for their big defenders and Ariel threats to come up from halfway and get in position before the thrower is ready to launch it

Can anyone see the obvious way of wasting time with a "multi ball" system, how many times will we see two balls on the pitch accidentally put on by a ball boy, or crowd returning the ball , we sometimes see two balls in play now and that's without 10 different balls around the pitch , a bit of wind knocking it off the little plastic holder could see it roll onto the pitch. For every rule they introduce there are ways to exploit it, it will be interesting to see how much time is wasted by balls on the pitch than a player using a towel , which is fairly rare imo.

@fgsaramago

10 ай бұрын

multi ball has been used for many years in most of Europe and UEFA competitions and that has never been a problem. Also, its insane that in England anyone was ever able to use TOWELS to dry off the ball

Don't most players these days just wipe the ball off under their shirt? This seems like such a minor move to try to move the needle. They should give keepers more yellows for time wasting before they try stuff like this.

The captain of a team should also get a yellow card on a second offence of a teams time-wasting (along with more than 2/3 players crowding a ref)

Can't there be a dry ball ready be used?

I think this is an mistake. Long throw ins isn't an overused tactic and add an extra suprise factor to the game. take that away and your left with less exciting games. Why take away the possibility of fun in a game?