The International Council adopts new changes in football law

The International Football Association Board (IFAB), which is responsible for amending the law of the game, adopted it during the 137th edition of its annual general assembly, which was held today, Saturday, in London.

A number of changes related to the law of the game, and also to the clarifications issued in this regard.

IFAB also approved the decision taken at the last General Assembly to broadcast decisions related to the process of reviewing video clips when using the video assistant referee (VAR), and display them to the public in the stadium and to viewers of live broadcasts on television, according to the official website of the International Federation of Football Associations (FIFA). ) today is Saturday.

The General Assembly was chaired by FA President Debbie Hewitt, in the presence of members of the International Council's management, namely: FIFA and the Football Associations of England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales, where the meeting decided to continue improving communication with fans in the stadiums.

Now live on https://t.co/1mL2GscECK: press conference following the 137th AGM of The IFAB with:

- Gianni Infantino, @FIFAcom President

- Mark Bullingham, CEO @FA

- Noel Mooney, CEO @FAWales

- Ian Maxwell, CEO @ScottishFA

- Patrick Nelson, CEO @IrishFA pic.twitter.com/CKBpHCAqTu

— The IFAB (@TheIFAB) March 4, 2023

The FIFA Club World Cup, which was held in Morocco last month, marked the starting point for experiments related exclusively to arbitration decisions taken when using the video assistant referee, which is scheduled to continue over a period of 12 months, to be applied in various FIFA tournaments, including the FIFA World Cup. 20 years scheduled in Indonesia between May and June 2023, to be decided later this year if these experiences will be extended to include other competitions within the FIFA tournaments.

Meanwhile, FIFA briefed on the successful application of semi-automated technology for offside detection and on the “simplified” VAR system, agreeing to review the VAR protocol, procedures and practical applications with key stakeholders.

For competitions that do not have the necessary resources to operate the VAR system and the “simplified” VAR system, it was agreed to test an additional video review system, with the aim of making this system available in the game at the global level.

New season law

In relation to the Laws of the Game for the 2023-2024 season, which will come into force on July 1, 2023, it was agreed that confirmation of offside cases would be included.

The full list of changes related to the laws of the game and clarifications issued in this regard will be published next week on the EFAP website, and competitions scheduled to start before July 1, 2023 may start applying these changes before that date or postpone their implementation until no later than the date of the start of the subsequent competition.

Members were informed of the new IFAB publication, “The Rules of Football – Simplified Laws of the Game”, which uses clearer language and a simpler structure, making the rules easier to understand, especially for youth, players, coaches and the general public.

Agenda for The IFAB's 137th Annual General Meeting confirmed

➡️ https://t.co/XJGCu9LOKL pic.twitter.com/lgPdLVZxZE

— The IFAB (@TheIFAB) February 8, 2023

The members were also briefed on the experiments related to permanent additional substitutions in cases of concussion, as the meeting decided to extend the period of conducting these tests to allow additional data to be collected in this regard.

With regard to additional temporary substitutions in cases of concussion, the meeting confirmed that no experiments were conducted at this stage, while keeping them under actual review, while it was agreed on the need to focus better on the educational aspects to improve the process of applying protocols related to permanent additional substitutions.

The meeting welcomed the approach adopted during the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, represented in calculating “lost time” more accurately, as it was agreed that this approach should be followed in various competitions around the world.

Mahdi Tarmi scores the second goal for Iran from a penalty kick.# Qatar 2022 |

#WorldCup_Qatar_2022 #WorldCupQatar2022 |

#Qatar2022 |

#FIFAWorldCup pic.twitter.com/8eK6BQNSHc

- beIN SPORTS (@beINSPORTS) November 21, 2022

It was also agreed to establish a working group to focus more on ways to improve the level of discipline and reduce aggression towards match referees, players and team officials at the junior and amateur levels.

In this regard, the English Football Association provided a briefing on an experiment that was carried out at the level of the buds, where referees wear cameras that record all contacts with players and coaches, an experiment that was approved by the International Football Association Board.