Amendments U.S. Soccer Federation Referee Program Amendments to the Laws of the Game July 2013

IFAB o The 127 th Annual General Meeting of the International Football Association Board (IFAB) took place on March 2, 2013 o No changes to the Laws of the Game o Changes made to the Interpretation of the Laws of the Game and Guidelines for Referees o New text (in bold)

Law 11 “Interfering with an opponent” means preventing an opponent from playing or being able to play the ball by clearly obstructing the opponent’s line of vision or challenging an opponent for the ball

Law 11 “Gaining an advantage by being in that position” means playing a ball I) that rebounds or is deflected to him off the goal post, crossbar or an opponent having been in an offside position II) that rebounds, is deflected or is played to him from a deliberate save by an opponent having been in an offside position A player in an offside position receiving the ball from an opponent, who deliberately plays the ball (except from a deliberate save), is not considered to have gained an advantage

IFAB Explanation o The current wording creates many discussions as it gives too much room for interpretation and is not precise enough o The new text is more in line with actual game situations and will eliminate the confusion regarding what is meant by rebound, deflection and when the ball has been deliberately saved

Advice to Referees o The act of challenging an opponent for the ball while in an offside position is now clearly incorporated into interfering with an opponent o The reworking of the definition of gaining an advantage does not call for any change in the way referees should have been implementing this concept

Implementation o The changes go into effect as of July 1, 2013 o Confederations or member associations whose current season has not ended by this date may delay the introduction of the adopted alterations to the Laws of the Game in their competitions until the beginning of their next season

Resource Center o A complete version of the Amendments to the Laws of the Game can be downloaded in the Downloads section of the Resource Center at ussoccer.comDownloads o In addition, FIFA has provided an interactive DVD that can also be downloaded in the Downloads section of the Resource Center at ussoccer.com Downloads