With
the season underway in both the EFL Sky Bet Football League and Scotland,
Dermot Gallagher is back to explain how the new rule changes in the game
were implemented this weekend.
The International Football Association Board (IFAB) announced in May more
than 95 alterations to the laws of the game last season after 18 months of
consultation, with many of those changes trialled at Euro 2016.
Gallagher, a former Premier League referee, has been clarifying some of the
more important of those alterations by using examples from both last season
and the past few days' action to demonstrate what has changed…
Player behaviour
Referees have been urged to take a stronger stand on "intolerable behaviour"
by players following a joint statement by the Premier League, English
Football League and FA.
Running to contest decisions, arguing face-to-face with officials, and
"visibly disrespectful" actions will result in yellow cards.
Red cards will be issued to players who confront officials and use insulting
and/or offensive language or gestures towards them.
The aim is to "reduce disrespectful conduct such as aggressively challenging
decisions or running from distance to confront an official".
GALLAGHER SAYS: What has happened in the past is that referees have set the
tolerance levels too high and it is not a good image for the sport that is
going all around the world.
So we have asked people to tighten up on acts of visual dissent that
everybody can see. When you see a player confront an assistant after he
makes a decision, and they go head-to-head with him, it is intolerable and
not a good image for the game.
So now they are saying it has got to stop and something has to be done, as
it has become a step too far.
We saw one yesterday, the season has only just started, when a free kick was
given and QPR defender Jake Bidwell has confronted the referee visibly. And
in fairness to referees, the clubs have been told and the referee acted
accordingly.
So hopefully, it might happen in the first few weeks of the season, but we
will see it stop.
Last season, Jamie Vardy got a second yellow card for simulation [at home to
West Ham United in the Premier League], he did not leave the field of play
and it was quite blatant what he said to [referee] John Moss.
And I come back to what I said before, it is all about the image of the
game. It is not just what we see in England, it is viewed in 178 countries
around the world and people do not want to see it.
[Chelsea's home game with Spurs last season] really highlighted it and if
you were to pick any game from last season - and I do not want to pick on
one club - but for Mark Clattenburg, that was one of the toughest games I've
ever seen in the Premier League.
He had numerous challenges to his authority both within the game itself and
players reacting to him too. And it was not just the players, we had cases
where [Mauricio] Pochettino was on the pitch, so it is the bench too. And
that really was the catalyst to say it has gone too far.
Triple punishment
The previous 'triple-punishment' law meant a player who denied a
goal-scoring opportunity in the box was automatically red-carded and handed
a suspension, as well as giving away a penalty.
The law has now been changed so players committing accidental fouls that
deny goal-scoring opportunities in the penalty area will not be
automatically sent off, with a yellow card sufficient punishment.
As the amendment states: "When a denial of a goalscoring opportunity offence
is committed by a defender in the penalty area, the penalty kick effectively
restores the goalscoring opportunity so the punishment for the player should
be less strong (e.g. a yellow card) than when the offence is committed
outside the penalty area. However, when the offence is handball or clearly
not a genuine attempt to play or challenge for the ball, the player will be
sent off."
GALLAGHER SAYS: The referee has to decide if the player has made a genuine
attempt to go for the ball - if he decides he has, then it is only a yellow
card.
Let's not forget that the referee can still send a player off in the penalty
area. The example being if I pushed you over in the box, there is no way
that I can prove I was genuinely going for the ball and it would still be a
red card.
But if the goalkeeper comes out and the referee decides he has made a
genuine attempt to go for the ball, that would be a yellow card. But if a
goalkeeper comes out and goes absolutely straight through a player, with no
intention of playing the ball, it will still be a red card. But only if it
is in the penalty area.
It was too severe, especially for goalkeepers, who were very vulnerable in
that situation. You make a genuine attempt to go for the ball, the forward
gets there slightly early and nicks the ball away, it is a penalty, a red
card, a one-match suspension and it is too harsh.
So what they have decided now is he has not denied a clear goalscoring
opportunity, he has merely delayed it as a penalty is as good as a
goalscoring opportunity.
Handball
In an effort to stop referees brandishing yellow cards for every handball,
"preventing an opponent gaining possession" has been removed from the list
of bookable offences.
Handball is now a yellow card offence when "it stops/interferes with a
promising attack".
GALLAGHER SAYS: The key issue here is, has the player stopped a promising
attack, or is it just a handball? And what you will see now is that not
every handball will be a yellow card.
I think this season, it will be the referee's choice as this is where you
cannot be descriptive. The referee has to decide if [Mikel] Arteta has
deliberately stopped the ball going through to a player behind him, or has
he just tried to gain possession of the ball?
In that case, I think he has just tried to gain possession and a free kick
would have just been sufficient.
Treating injuries
If a player is fouled and hurt by an opponent who subsequently receives a
yellow or red card for the challenge, the injured player may be quickly
treated on the pitch without the need to leave the field of play.
It was widely seen as unfair that a player injured by a serious foul was
forced off the pitch for treatment, temporarily placing the fouled team at a
numerical disadvantage.
GALLAGHER SAYS: We are playing catch-up from 1994 after the World Cup when
it was actually used as a tactic so that when a player was fouled, he asked
for treatment and what it did was stop the momentum of the game.
I think this is a great example of how it is will be better, because last
year Kieran Tierney would had to have gone off and they [Celtic] would had
to play ten against 11, which never sat right with me anyhow.
What is interesting is that you would have thought the clubs were aware of
this. Kieran was set to go off, he is obviously called back by somebody, not
only can he stay on, but it has then triggered [Hearts manager] Robbie
Neilson to question why.
And the referee has had to go across and say: 'Look, this has changed and
because he had a yellow card he can stay on the field of play'.
So at least that incident yesterday on the opening day of the season will
have given everybody the education for the rest of the season.
Pre-match red cards
Referees will be able to give a player a red card before the match kicks
off. This allows officials to punish red-card offences (e.g. violent
conduct) in the warm-up or as the two teams line up in the tunnel. The new
law states a player may be sent off any time between the pre-match
inspection and when the referee leaves the field at the end of the game.
GALLAGHER SAYS: The fact you have had to go back 11 years just shows it is
not epidemic, it is very, very rare and hopefully it will be another 11
years before we see another case like this.
It is there for the referee to have as a back-up in case it does happen, but
it is like an insurance policy that you never want to claim and the referee
never wants to invoke that.
Kick-offs
As seen at Euro 2016, the ball no longer has to go forward at kick-off. The
previous law stated the ball had to go into the opposition half at the
restart, but it has been changed to allow it to move in any direction, as
long as it "clearly moves". This change has paved the way for one-man
kick-offs, as seen at Euro 2016.
GALLAGHER SAYS: I just think that it is a rule that has moved along with the
times that when you see it happen, it has become of no benefit. Now you only
have one player out of position.
I think what will be interesting is when you have a player stood over the
ball, if the other player suddenly thinks, when the referee blows his
whistle, to run from about 10 yards and smashes it straight into the goal
expecting it to go back and the goal is given!
I think that will be a great tactic if somebody did that by surprise!
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