The International Football Association Board (IFAB) has revealed five significant rule changes, set to come into effect from 1 June.
But the new rules put forward at IFAB’s 133rd Annual General Meeting in Scotland, have fans divided.
As well as assessing the use of Video Assistant Referees (VARs), they proposed the following:
1. Accidental handball goal won’t stand
Goals scored which have hit a player’s hand, deliberate or not, will not count.
2. Substituted players can leave the field anywhere
To stop time-wasting, when a player is taken off, they will no longer have to leave the field at the halfway line and can leave the pitch at the nearest point.
DISALLOWED: Accidental handball goals are out. PHOTO: SUPPLIED.
3. No attacking players in the wall
This rule prohibits attacking players standing in the wall when a freekick is being taken, a tactic increasingly employed in recent years.
Attackers will be made to stand at least one metre from the wall. This will stop defenders being moved out the way.
4. Coaches will receive cards
Currently, coaches only receive verbal warnings for misconduct, but the change will see them receiving yellows and reds as players do.