Golden Goal integrated into Laws of the Game
International F.A. Board wants referees to
apply rules more strictly

Football's law-makers will instruct referees to apply the Laws of the Game more strictly as a means against players who hold their opponents or pull them by their shirts.

The International Football Association Board, holding its 115th annual general meeting in Edinburgh (Scotland) on Saturday, 10 March, decided that relevant mandatory instructions would be issued to match officials throughout the world.

The stance taken by the International F.A. Board follows an increase in offences of this type since the introduction of a ban on tackles from behind, which the referees are also asked to sanction more strictly, and a ban on simulating fouls, with the fouled player frequently reacting and the situation tending to escalate.

Moreover, the Board decided to add the Golden Goal provisions to the Laws of the Game as a method of determining the winning team along with taking kicks from the penalty mark.

In future, not only the coach but also other team officials, such as the assistant coach, may -- one at a time -- convey tactical instructions to the players during a match. They eventually have to return to their bench but no longer need to do so immediately. The change was advocated by FIFA on the recommendation of its Technical Committee.

Regarding disciplinary action, only a player or substitute or substituted player may be shown the red or yellow card. A player who has been sent off must leave the vicinity of the field of play and the technical area. Red and yellow cards may not be shown to team officials, who in case of indiscipline are to be reported to the relevant bodies by the referee.

The celebration of goals is only to be considered as a punishable offence if it borders on provocation or leads to time-wasting. Contrary to current regulations, it will no longer automatically be a cautionable offence if a player takes off his shirt to celebrate a goal. In this respect, the International F.A. Board and FIFA recognise the natural and emotional joy of scoring goals.

The amendments to the Laws come into force on 1 July this year.

The Board also discussed the experiment in England by which free kicks are advanced by 9.15 metres (10 yards) when a player of the penalised team fails to respect the required distance or delays the restart of the game. The Board felt the results of the ongoing experiments were not yet sufficiently conclusive and extended the tests for another year, albeit under slightly modified circumstances. FIFA will also conduct such tests at this year's U-17 World Championship in Trinidad and Tobago from 14 - 30 September as part of the education of young players to respect the Laws of the Game.

The experiment with two referees to officiate matches, on the other hand, has been abandoned as it has not yielded sufficiently positive results.

The International F.A. Board acknowledged the importance of artificial turf and endorsed the quality concept recently introduced by FIFA. It was also stated that official FIFA qualification matches may be played on appropriate artificial surfaces because the quality of this type of surface has improved significantly.

Furthermore, the meeting reiterated that advertising and clubs' logos on goal nets are not allowed.

David Crick