Laws of the Game 2017/18
Summary of Law Changes for Players,
Coaches and the Media
The International Football Association Board
April 2017
The International Football Association Board
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Introduction
The131stAGMofTheInternationalFABoard(TheIFAB)heldinLondonon3March2017
approved‘asecondstage’ofchangesandclarificationstotheLawsoftheGamefor2017/18to
completelastyear’smajorLawrevision.
AnimportantchangeisanincreaseintheflexibilityofnationalFAstomodifypartsofthe
‘organisational’Lawstobenefittheirdomesticfootball-theynowhavemoreoptionsforthe
footballforwhichtheyareresponsible.
TheIFABandFIFAalsoexpressedastrongcommitmenttoamajorfocusonimprovingplayer
behaviour,includingincreasingtheroleofthecaptain.
Thisdocumentcontainsasummaryofthemainchangeswillaffectplayersandmatchsituations
AnelectronicversionoftheLawsoftheGame2017/18canbedownloadedfromTheIFAB’s
website(www.theifab.com)whichalsocontainsthefollowingsummarydocuments:
•
‘SummaryofLawChangesforOrganisersandAdministrators-asummarywhichfocuseson
theLawchangesrelatingtotheorganisationofmatchesandcompetitions.
•
GuidelinesforTemporarydismissals(sinbins)
•
GuidelinesforReturnsubstitutes
Reminders
TheIFABandFIFAwouldliketoremindeveryoneoftwoveryimportantaspectsofthegame:
Captains
•
TheLawsoftheGamestatethatthecaptainhas‘adegreeofresponsibilityforthebehaviour
oftheirteam’-captainsareexpectedtousethisresponsibilitytohelpcalm/positively
influencethebehaviouroftheirplayers,especiallyincontroversial/confrontationsituations
involvingopponentsormatchofficials
RespectforReferees
•
Playersmustrespectalldecisionsmadebytherefereeandothermatchofficials,evenwhen
theymayappeartobewrong.
RespectfortheLawsoftheGameandthematchofficialswhoapplytheLawsisparamount
tothefairnessandimageoffootball
Key
YC=yellowcard
RC=redcard
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SummaryofLawchangesfor2017/18
ThefollowingsummarisesthemainLawchangesrelatingtoplayers,coachesandmatch
situations:
Electronicandcommunicationequipment
Playersareforbiddentowear/useanyelectronicorcommunicationequipment,except
•
electronicperformanceandtrackingsystems(EPTS)
AllEPTSequipmentmusthaveaminimumsafetystandardmark;systemsalreadyinuse
•
haveatransitionperiodtoobtainthismarkwhichendson31May3018
Teamofficialsinthetechnicalareamayonlyusecommunicationequipmentforplayer
•
safety/welfare
Therewillbeaconsultationaboutotherelectroniccommunicationinthetechnicalarea
•
Extra-time
•
Ashortdrinksbreakisallowedathalftimeofextra-time;thebreakisnotforcoaching
Goalcelebration
•
AplayerwillgetaYCifagoalcelebrationcausesasafety/securityproblem
Kick-off
•
Thekickerispermittedtostandintheopponents’halftotakethekick-off
Offencesoffthefield(ballinplay)
•
Ifaplayercommitsanoffenceoffthefieldagainstanopposingplayer,substituteorteam
official,oramatchofficial,itisafreekickontheboundaryline*
•
Ifasubstituteorteamofficialcommitsanoffenceoffthefieldagainstanopponentormatch
official,itisafreekickontheboundaryline*
*penaltykickifdirectFKoffenceintheoffender’spenaltyarea
Offside
•
Whenaplayerwhoisinanoffsidepositionisfouled,thefoulisawardedonlyiftheplayeris
notalreadyattemptingtoplayorchallengefortheball
•
Playersinanoffsidepositionwhointerferewith(or‘block’)defenderswillbepenalised
Penaltykickforafoulwhich‘stopsapromisingattack’
Aplayerwhocommitsafoulwhich‘stopsapromisingattack’inthepenaltyareawillnot
•
receiveaYCifthefoulwasanattempttoplaytheball
Penaltiesattheendofamatch(KicksfromthePenaltyMark)
•
Agoalkeeperwhoisunabletocontinuemaybereplacedbyaplayerexcludedtoequalise
thenumbers(e.g.opponentshadaplayerssentoff),evenifallsubstituteshavebeenused
•
AgoalkeeperwhocausesakicktoberetakenwillgetaYC
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Referees
Law5nowcontainsanimportantstatementthatdecisionsmadebymatchofficialsmust
•
alwaysberespected(evenwhentheyseemtobewrong)–TheIFABandFIFAhopethiswill
bepublicisedandsupportedbyeveryoneinthegame
Returningtothefieldwithoutpermission
•
Ifaplayerwhohasgoneoffthefieldandneedsthereferee’spermissiontoreturn(e.g.
injured,changingfootwearetc.)comesbackontothefieldwithoutthereferee’spermission
andinterfereswithplayitisaYCandadirectfreekick*
Substitutes
•
NationalFAscannowallowteamstouseamaximumoffivesubstitutes(butnotin
competitionsinvolvingteamsfrom1st(top)divisionclubsorin‘A’international
competitions)
•
NationalFAshavetheoptiontouse‘returnsubstitutes’inyouth,veterans,disabilityaswell
asgrassroots(lowestlevels)football
Temporarydismissals(sinbins)
•
NationalFAshavetheoptiontousetemporarydismissals(sinbins)forall/someYCsin
youth,veterans,disabilityandgrassrootsfootball
Throwingobjects
•
Ifaplayer,substituteorteamofficialthrows/kicksanobject(includingaball)ontothefield
itisadirectfreekick*ifitinterfereswithplayoramatchofficial
•
Ifaplayerthrows/kicksanobject(includingaball)offthefieldatanopposingplayer,
substituteorteamofficial,oramatchofficial,itisadirectfreekickontheboundaryline*
*penaltykickifdirectFKoffenceintheoffender’spenaltyarea
Forfurtherinformationorforaspecificquestion,[email protected]
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