The regulatory changes that come: Coto to the Porters Persons, a variety and body cameras in the referees

While the ball rolled through different stadiums worldwide, football kept an eye on the assembly of the International Football Association Board (IFAB)the FIFA agency responsible for the rules of the game and arbitration. On the agenda of the meeting, held this Saturday, March 1 in Belfast, was the approval or not of several important modifications in the regulations with the aim of making the most dynamic and attractive encounters but without losing the essence of king sport. And finally there will be changes. Some will be immediate while others will apply in minor competitions to assess a subsequent definitive implementation.

Among the seconds, one of those that had generated the most expectation in the previous meeting, the change in criteria for the application of the offside rule. The idea that had been raised, following the recommendation of Usene Wenger, legendary former Arsenal and current director of FIFA Development, is that instead of sanctioning that any part of the attacker’s body is advanced with respect to the defender, it is only indicated out of play When the whole body of the striker is advanced. A modification that would pursue the game in its offensive facet, increasing the amount of goal opportunities in each match.

However, since it is a change of great draft, the IFAB has proposed Test it at the moment in minor competitions before applying it in a generalized way. «It has been decided to proactively search for competitions to perform more off -game tests with the aim of promoting attack football and encouraging opportunities to score goals, while maintaining the appeal of this sport. FIFA will carry out these tests in some of its next competitions ».

Nor has the option to apply now A smaller var formula in which it was the coaches who had the power to ask to review two concrete plays per team, in the style of what is now done in some room soccer competitions. The so -called ‘Football Video Support’, much less interventionist and also easier to apply because they would not need colleges in the videorabitraje room, will be tested in minor competitions.

Fight time losses

Less warm this organism has been shown on another of the fronts on which FIFA is most battled in recent years, that of time losses. Thus, after rehearsing in base football, He has decided to change the rule of the six seconds of possession for the goalkeeperswhich according to the norm was punished with a free kick but has barely applied. «After the tests have shown an important positive impact in cases in which the goalkeepers have retained the ball for too long, IFAB has unanimously decided to modify rule 12.2. The modification means that if a goalkeeper retains the ball for more than eight seconds (with the referee using a five -second visual count), the referee will grant a corner kick to the opposite team (instead of the current indirect free kick for more than six seconds) ».

Less transcendent seem the modifications of rules 8.2 (ground ball) and 9.2 (ball at stake). The first now says that «if the ball is outside the penalty area when the game is interrupted, it will be dropped for the team that had or would have had the possession of the ball, if this is evident for the referee; Otherwise, it will be dropped for the team that touched it for the last time. The ball will fall into the place where it was when the game was interrupted ».

While the new text of the second explains that “an indirect free kick will be granted without disciplinary sanction if a team officer, substitute, replaced or expelled player or player who is temporarily out of the pitch touches the ball when he is leaving the pitch and there was no intention to unfairly interfere».

Reinforcement to the referee’s authority

Together with the fight against time losses, FIFA has put in recent years a lot of emphasis on the relationship between referees and players, reinforcing the authority of the former. In this sense, the IFAB has approved that the measure of that only captains can talk to the members on the pitchfirst implemented in the last Eurocup, it is definitively integrated into the regulation to apply the championships that decide. “Greater cooperation and communication between captains and referees, which often face verbal and/or physical disagreements when making decisions, can help instill higher levels of equity and mutual respect, fundamental values ​​of the game,” he argues.

Later, to supervise this relationship and also any infraction of it, it has been agreed Study the option to incorporate cameras into the body of the refereesa measure that will be rehearsed at the next Club World Cup, in summer.

Finally, the IFAB has reached the agreement to give the competitions that they want so that the members can explain to the fans who follow the game in the stadium and in their homes their decisions after a review of the VAR.