Laws of the Game
Please get ready for the season by reading up on the latest changes to the Laws of the Game. IFAB makes a great app. Please download it and read up on the latest changes. Many of the changes from 2019-2020 and 2020-2021 are significant and you will definitely encounter them in your games.
Depending on your experience level and the games you do, you probably don’t need an encyclopedic understanding of every finer detail in the LOTG. However, if you are looking to be a center ref at higher level games, you should be comfortable with all the material save for some items we don’t have to deal with such as VAR.
2019-2020 changes
- Here is a PDF of all the changes to the LOTG in 2019-2020. Please feel free to gloss over stuff that does not apply to us such as anything related to VAR. The most notable changes include the coin toss, dropped ball procedures, clarified wording for handballs, management of a “wall”, goal kick procedures, and free kicks taken by a defending team in their own penalty area,
- Here is a video with a general overview of the 2019-2020 changes, which most of you did not have to apply since BAYS did not adopt them.
- Here is a video about the new wording related to handballs for the 2019-2020 season.
- Here is a specific video of the 2019-2020 change related to goal kicks and free kicks
2020-2021 changes
- Here is a presentation, including videos, of all 2020-2021 changes. These changes are related to some finer details but scan through them to see what feels relevant to your games.
In addition to the new IFAB Laws of the Game, please read through the BAYS-specific exceptions regarding substitutions and player equipment.