FIFA rules overhaul: 95 changes to the Laws of the Game

FIFA decided to make 95 changes to the rules of football. The idea was to update the regulations in order to improve the quality of the game. Never before in the history of football had so many rules been changed at once. The decision was taken by the FIFA board, which consists of eight men. The changes were to be tested the following year, after which FIFA would decide which of them would stay in the game permanently. In addition, video replays will be tested over the next two seasons.
Most of the changes looked minor, but some of them were set to have a serious impact on the way modern football looks.
These were some of the most interesting changes to the rules:

1. A player who stops completely during his run-up to a penalty and then continues will be shown a yellow card, and the opposing team will be awarded a free-kick. Hesitation is permitted, but a complete stop is not.

2. The referee will have a choice in how to punish a team. The triple punishment for a foul in the box (a penalty, a red card and a subsequent suspension for the player) will no longer be automatic. Referees will be able to decide whether there was intent in the defender’s actions.

3. Referees will have the right to send a player off even before the match has started. If they notice unsporting behaviour during the warm-up, they can send the player off immediately after kick-off.

4. When medical assistance is given, an injured player will not have to leave the pitch if the doctor and physios get him back on his feet within 20 seconds.

5. Until now, players had to kick the ball forward at kick-off. They will be allowed to play it backwards, which means only one player is needed to take the kick-off.

6. Players from the attacking team will not be allowed to stand in the defensive wall at a free-kick.

7. Drinks breaks in hot weather are to be added on as stoppage time.

8. At a throw-in, the ball must be held equally firmly with both hands.

9. If a footballer loses a boot, he can play on without it until the game is next stopped. Play will no longer be halted immediately so that the player can put his boot back on.

10. A player’s undershorts must be the same colour as his kit.

11. Referees will be able to use video replays for red cards and penalties, but not for offside decisions. The replays will be tested over a period of two years.

12. Teams will be allowed a fourth substitution, but only in games that go to extra time.

Who writes the Laws of the Game

The body behind the changes is the International Football Association Board, known as IFAB. Its eight votes are split between FIFA, which holds four, and the football associations of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, which hold one each. A change to the Laws needs three-quarters of the votes, so at least six of the eight. FIFA’s backing is therefore necessary but not enough on its own, since at least two of the four British associations also have to agree. The board dates back to a first meeting on 2 June 1886.

The board’s 130th Annual General Meeting, hosted by the Football Association of Wales in Cardiff on 5 March 2016, also approved live trials of video technology to support referees.

What happened to video replays

The video trials started quickly. The first live test came in a friendly between PSV and FC Eindhoven in July 2016, and the first competitive match to use a video assistant referee was a Dutch cup tie between Ajax and Willem II on 21 September 2016.

The experiment ended with the system becoming part of the game. On 3 March 2018 the video assistant referee was written into the Laws of the Game, and the 2018 World Cup in Russia became the first tournament to use it at every match and every venue. The Premier League followed from the 2019-20 season, after its clubs had voted in principle in November 2018 to adopt the technology.