With every new football season comes a slew of new rules, most of which seemingly make no sense and often are not of any noticeable benefit to the beautiful game. And the 2016/17 campaign will be no different, after the IFAB (International Football Association Board) announced some new changes which will take effect from the beginning of next season.
We'll be honest, we thought some of these incoming introductions were already laws, such as the act of taking a one handed throw-in being illegal (hasn't that ALWAYS been the case?) and the rest are downright bizarre (advertising on corner flags will not be allowed. Was that even a thing teams did in the first place?).
However, one rule which we're a bit excited about is the fact that a kick-off will now be able to be taken IN ANY DIRECTION. This opens up a world of possibilities that will probably never get taken advantage of, but we're looking forward to nonetheless.
Also, any bad behaviour before a match has started can result in the ref sending players off before they've even taken the field.
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Other noticeable new laws include:
Rolling goal kicks are not allowed - Again, as with the soon to be 'illegal' one armed throw-ins, hasn't it always been a rule that a goal-kick can only be taken when the ball is stationary? Getting a feeling there's more than a few jobsworths at the IFAB who are inventing work for themselves with this sort of confusing bullshittery.
No electronic communications with substitutes - Why would a manager need to electronically communicate with players who are set on the bench behind him? We can't imagine Louis Van Gaal needs to whatsapp Memphis to say 'Warm up plz, m8'.
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You cannot call the linesman a linesman, they are now 'The other match officials' - We'll just keep calling them wankers, so this doesn't make much difference.
Oh and the IFAB have actually decided to help refs out more by trialing a two year period of video technology to aid decisions relating to; Mistaken identity, allowing goals, red cards and penalties. So that at least makes sense.
(H/T The Mirror)
Topics: Football