UEFA has revealed its intention to remove the away goals rule for all of its club competitions from next season in favor of extra time and a penalty shootout.
Introduced in 1965, the rule was used to find out the winner of a two-legged knockout tie in cases where the two teams had scored the same number of goals on aggregate over the two matches.
From the 2021-2022 season, if the two teams score the same number of goals over the two legs, the tie will be decided by playing two 15-minute periods of extra time at the end of the second leg.
In the event that the teams score the same number of goals or fail to score at all during extra time, a penalty shootout will then be held to select the winner.
Champions League, Europa League, Europa Conference League, and Women’s Champions League matches will no longer use the away goals rule.
“It is no longer right for an away goal to carry more weight,” said UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin.
He said the away goals rule actually discouraged home teams from attacking, especially in the first leg.
“Eventough there was no unanimity of views, many coaches, fans, and other football stakeholders have questioned its fairness and have showed a preference for the rule to be stopped,” Ceferin said in a disclosure.
“The effect of the rule now runs counter to its original purpose as, in fact, it now dissuades home teams – particularly in first legs – from attacking, due to they fear conceding a goal that would give their opponents a very important advantage.
“There is also criticism of the injustice, particularly in extra time, of obliging the home team to score twice when the away team has scored.”
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