Additional guidance

Serious foul play

9 Sep 2024

Serious foul play is punishable by red card.

A tackle or challenge that endangers the safety of an opponent or uses excessive force or brutality must be sanctioned as serious foul play.

Any player who lunges at an opponent in challenging for the ball from the front, from the side or from behind using one or both legs, with excessive force or endangers the safety of an opponent is guilty of serious foul play.

Considerations

-Speed
-Intensity
-Force
-Degree of control
-Point and extent of contact (full/limited)

Contact

-Contact on foot only is typically considered reckless = Yellow card
-High + Full + Forceful contact on ankle or above is considered dangerous = Red card

Considerations when contact is made after playing the ball

-Controlled action to play the ball
-Available space into which challenge is made
-Awareness and consideration of opponent
and their safety
-Is the challenge clearly reckless (yellow card)
or involves excessive force (red card)

VAR process to continue to make use of full speed replays to consider intensity, and slow motion replays to establish point of contact.

Contents:

VAR
VAR Improvement Plan
Decision-making process
What VAR cannot do
Threshold for VAR intervention
Attacking Possession Phase
Semi-Automated Offside Technology

Participant Behaviour Charter
Context for Change
Core Principles
Regulatory

Updates for Season 2024/25
Effective Playing Time – Allowance for time lost
Effective Playing Time – Calculation of Additional Time
Effective Playing Time – Delaying the restart
Effective Playing Time – Managing momentum
Handball – Interpretation
Holding
Blocking
Denying a goal or an obvious goal scoring opportunity
Penalty kicks
IFAB Trial