UEFA finally abolishes away goals rule in club competitions — after 56 years

UEFA has announced that the away goals rule will be abolished from European competitions beginning from the start of the 2021-22 season — putting an end to a rule that has been in place since 1965.

The European football governing body broke the news in a statement on its official website on Thursday.

The rule is applied when the score of a two-legged tie is level on aggregate after 180 minutes, with the team scoring more goals away from their home venue declared winners.

The higly-criticised rule was introduced by UEFA in the 1965/66 season.

It came under the spotlight this season with some matches being held at neutral venues without spectators due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Following the recommendation of the UEFA Club Competitions Committee and the UEFA Women’s Football Committee, the UEFA Executive Committee has today approved a proposal to remove the so-called away goals rule from all UEFA club competitions (men, women and youth) as of the qualifying phases of the 2021/22 competitions,” the statement read.

“The away goals rule was applied to determine 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.

“In such cases, the team which had scored the higher number of goals away from home was considered the winner of the tie and qualified for the next round of the competition.

“If the two teams had scored the same number of goals at home and away at the end of normal playing time in the second leg, extra time was played, followed by kicks from the penalty mark if no goal was scored.”

Reacting to the rule change, Aleksander Ceferin, UEFA president explained that “the impact of the rule now runs counter to its original purpose as, in fact, it now dissuades home teams – especially in first legs – from attacking, because they fear conceding a goal that would give their opponents a crucial advantage.”

The new development means matches now tied on aggregate score after 90 minutes in the second leg will go direct to extra time and then to a penalty shootout.