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A Guide To The Football Law Changes 1920/21
Sunday, 12th Apr 2020 10:04

The International Football Association Board (IFAB) has announced a series of changes to the rules of the game for next season, here we explain them in detail.

A week or so ago I confirmed that the IFAB had made some rule changes and concentrated on the handball rule where IFAB had agreed that individual competitions could implement it for the remainder of this season if required, but there are other changes that have been made so lets take a look at the major changes made.

The main changes revolve around handball and the use of VAR.

Before we start I have to say that I am in favour of VAR, I do think there is a lot of room for changes and improvements in the system need to be made, but overall VAR has meant that far more decisions get the right outcome and at this level of the game that has to be the major consideration.

VAR if implemented properly will enhance the game, it is the way that it is being implemented and the time taken over decisions that is the problem, not VAR itself.

On one of our recent radio shows on Voice FM we took a look at several VAR decisions on video and compared the time that VAR took and the time we in the studio to come to a decision, we found that in most of the cases where VAR took 1 1/2 to 2 minutes we made it in around 20 seconds.

This may not be the populist view, but I feel it is the right one, we should not discard technology just because there are some initial hiccups.

The handball rule change is fairly simple, IFAB have confirmed that handball is only given if the ball has hit the arm under what could be described as the T Shirt line, that means roughly where the end of the sleeve of a T Shirt would be on the arm, so using the shoulder as Sofiane Boufal did in a recent match against Newcastle would not now be deemed as a penalty unless the ball was below the T shirt line.

There are also changes to the way that the accidental handball rules are implemented when a goal is scored, this season if a player has accidentally committed a handball offence in the build up to the goal, the goal would not count, now that offence has to be committed accidentally only by the scorer or the player giving the assist.

if an attacking player accidentally touches the ball with their hand/arm and the ball then goes to another attacking player and the attacking team immediately scores, this is a handball offence; - it is not an offence if, after an accidental handball, the ball travels some distance (pass or dribble) and/or there are several passes before the goal or goal-scoring opportunity.

VAR

Reference to the final decision is removed, as the VAR is permitted to give advice to the referee about the decision but the referee always makes the final decision

4 PROCEDURES REVIEW

If play has not already stopped, the referee stops play when the ball is next in a neutral zone/situation (usually when neither team is in an attacking move) and shows the ‘TV signal’

The VAR describes to the referee what can be seen on the TV replay(s), and the referee then:

shows the ‘TV signal’ (if not already shown) and goes to the referee review area to view replay footage — ‘on-field review’ (OFR) — before making a final decision. The other match officials will not review the footage unless, in exceptional circumstances, asked to do so by the referee

or

makes a final decision based on the referee’s own perception and the information from the VAR, and, where appropriate, input from other match officials — VAR-only review

At the end of both review processes, the referee must show the ‘TV signal’, immediately followed by the final decision

For subjective decisions, e.g. intensity of a foul challenge, interference at offside, handball considerations, an ‘on-field review’ (OFR) is appropriate

For factual decisions, e.g. position of an offence or player (offside), point of contact (handball/foul), location (inside or outside the penalty area), ball out of play etc. a VAR only review is usually appropriate but an ‘on-field review’ (OFR) can be used for a factual decision if it will help manage the players/match or ‘sell’ the decision (e.g. a crucial match-deciding decision late in the game)

Explanation

It seems that the IFAB are keen to try and speed up the game and are saying that some decisions can be made by the VAR officials where the decision is clear cut ie offside but where it is subjective, it is the referee's opinion that counts and so he should make that by referring to the on field review system early in the process, rather than after the VAR officials have deliberated.

Photo: Action Images



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