The new season is almost upon us and here’s what to expect from a match officiating point of view during the 2024/25 campaign.
While
maintaining a robust approach to dealing with unacceptable behaviour
and delaying the restart of play - measures that were introduced for
2023/24 - officials will also be implementing changes to the Laws of the
Game, as laid out by The IFAB, for the forthcoming campaign.
A
summary of these key changes, including updates to an element of denial
of an obvious goal-scoring opportunity and the penalty-kick process,
are below:
Denial of an obvious goal-scoring opportunity (DOGSO)
When an outfield player denies the opposing team a goal or an obvious
goal-scoring opportunity by deliberately handling the ball and a
penalty kick is awarded, the player will be sent off.
However,
when an outfield player denies the opposing team a goal or an obvious
goal-scoring opportunity by committing a handball offence whereby they
make themselves unjustifiably bigger but without deliberate movement of
the hand / arm to the ball and the referee awards a penalty kick, it
will now result in a caution rather than a red card.
Deliberate handball + DOGSO = penalty + red card
Non-deliberate handball yet body unjustifiably bigger + DOGSO = penalty + caution
Penalty kick process - encroachment
A player’s position at a restart is determined by the position of
their feet or any part of their body which is touching the ground,
except as outlined in Law 11 (Offside).
The change for 2024/25
means that players who do not impact will not be penalised and,
therefore, the same principle as goalkeeper encroachment will now apply
to all players.
Examples of impact include:
- Defender clearly distracts / impacts the taker
- Attacker clearly distracts / impacts the goalkeeper
- Ball rebounds and defender prevents goal or goal-scoring opportunity
- Ball rebounds and attacker scores, attempts to score or creates goal-scoring opportunity
Alongside implementing the aforementioned law changes, officials will once again have the full support of the football authorities to deliver the stronger measures that were introduced ahead of last season, including maintaining a robust approach to dealing with participant behaviour when it falls below expected standards, both on the field and in the technical area.
Looking to maintain an average of nine minutes of enhanced ball in-play time across the three divisions during 2023/24 season (up 9% on 2022/23), the exact time lost when certain game events occur will again be added. Events considered for this include goals and celebrations – a slight change for 2024/25 will see time added after an initial 30 seconds has elapsed. For example, if a goal and the subsequent celebration takes one minute, officials will add on 30 seconds at the end of the relevant half. Time lost for substitutions, injuries requiring treatment, penalties and red cards will also be included.
To support the accurate calculation of additional time, stadium clocks, scoreboards or giant screen timings will continue to run until the completion of each half, including any additional time at the end of the first or second half.
Clear and deliberate actions that are impactful in delaying the restart of play will also see players cautioned.
While protecting player safety will continue to be of paramount importance, the flow and tempo of the English game will again be recognised with match officials adopting a high threshold for penalising challenges with the emphasis on not all contact constitutes a foul.
As per 2023/24, players who require assessment on the pitch for a potential injury will receive treatment off the field of play, apart from certain circumstances as laid out in Law 5 of the Laws of the Game:
- A goalkeeper is injured
- A goalkeeper and an outfield player have collided and need attention
- Players from the same team have collided and need attention
- A severe injury has occurred
- A player is injured as the result of a physical offence for which the opponent is cautioned or sent off (e.g., reckless or serious foul challenge), if the assessment/treatment is completed quickly
- A penalty has been awarded and the injured player will be the taker
After the restart of play, a period of time - not less than 30 seconds - will be afforded for the player to be treated and they will not return to the pitch before this period has elapsed. As always, the player’s return to the pitch requires the referee's permission and may be delayed beyond 30 seconds if the phase of play is in the vicinity of the player looking to re-enter the pitch.
In circumstances where a player declines the physio, if a team-mate clearly delays or refuses to re-start the game that team-mate will be issued a yellow card. This will promote player safety, which is of paramount importance to the match officials, and act as a deterrent to players who request attention as a tactic to waste time or break the momentum of the game.
Handball is a subjective judgement and not every touch of a player’s hand / arm with the ball is an offence, with hand/arm position being judged in relation to body movement in that particular situation.
What constitutes a handball offence:
Arm movement
- Deliberate movement of the arm towards the ball
Arm position
- Makes body unjustifiably bigger
Mitigating factors:
- Justifiable position/action
- Supportive arm when player falls
- Player plays ball onto own arm
- Clear change of trajectory when touched by the same player
- Played by a team-mate
- Proximity
Holding is a continued area of emphasis and situations will be penalised when it’s sustained and has a clear impact on the opponent’s opportunity to play or challenge for the ball, including those non-footballing actions.
What to look for:
- Both arms is usually an offence, unless it’s not sustained and/or no clear impact
- One arm is usually an offence, if clear impact
- Shirt holding is usually an offence, unless it’s slight, short, or no clear impact
- Holding while focusing solely on the opponent and paying no attention to challenging for the ball (non-footballing action) is usually an offence
- Mutual holding is usually no offence
