As usual ahead of a new football season, there have been some changes made to the official laws of the game. With pre-season already in full swing for some our teams, it is a good time to make sure that all our age groups are aware of the new regulations.

Below is a simplified version of this year’s key law changes to help prepare our managers, players, referees and spectators for the new season.

Law 1 – The Field of Play

• Goalposts and the crossbar may be a combination of the four basic shapes.

Law 10 – Determining the Outcome of a Match

• Yellow cards and warnings are not carried forward into kicks from the penalty mark.

Law 11 – Offside

• Deliberate handball by a defending player is considered ‘deliberate play’ for offside.

Law 12 – Fouls and Misconduct
Handball:

• The boundary between the shoulder and the arm is defined as the bottom of the armpit.
• ‘Accidental’ handball by an attacking player (or team-mate) is only penalised if it occurs ‘immediately’ before a goal or clear goal-scoring opportunity.
• A goalkeeper can receive a yellow card or be sent off for ‘illegally’ touching the ball a second time after a restart (e.g. goal kick, free kick etc.) even if the touch is with the hand/arm.
• Any offence (not only a foul) which ‘interferes with or stops a promising attack’ should result in a yellow card.
• A player who fails to respect the 4m required distance at a dropped ball should receive a yellow card.
• If the referee plays advantage or allows a ‘quick’ free kick for an offence which ‘interfered with or stopped a promising attack’, the yellow card is not issued.

Law 14 – The Penalty Kick

• An offence by the goalkeeper is not penalised if a penalty kick misses the goal or rebounds from the goal (without a touch from the goalkeeper) unless the offence clearly affected the kicker.
• The goalkeeper is warned for the first offence; it is a yellow card for any further offence(s).
• The kicker is penalised if the goalkeeper and the kicker offend at exactly the same time.

IFAB have produced a presentation including video examples explaining the new changes. This can be viewed by clicking HERE.