Published by the government of Zimbabwe
Petros Kausiyo
9 July 2009
Harare — WORLD soccer governing body Fifa have amended some of the laws of the game and moved to end some of the confusion that has often followed the interpretation of the rules.
Fifa secretary-general Jerome Valcke announced the amendments in a circular to national associations, which was also copied to the Fifa executive committee, the referees committee and the confederations.
The amendments came into effect on July 1, which means the domestic Premiership can start implementing the new laws when the championship marathon resumes at various venues around the country at the weekend.
In his circular, Valcke said the decision to effect amendments to the laws had been reached at the annual meeting of the International Football Association Board and added that the changes that had been made to the regulations were binding for all confederations and member associations with effect from July 1.
"The decisions of this year's annual general meeting of the board regarding changes to the laws of the game are binding for confederations and member associations as from 1 July 2009 but confederations or member associations whose current season has not ended by 1 July may delay the introduction of the adopted alterations to the laws of the game in their competitions until the beginning of their next season," wrote Valcke.
The Fifa secretary-general also reminded the referees about the need to be strict in implementing Law 5 of the game, part of which states that:
"The referee must stop the match if in his opinion, a player is seriously injured."
Although Fifa indicated that member associations whose current season would not have ended by July 1 may delay the introduction of the adopted alterations, the local game has been advised to move in line with the rest of the world and immediately implement the amendments.
Fifa referees instructor for Southern and East African regions Felix Tangawarima said it would be to Zimbabwean football's advantage if it implemented the amendments at the same time with the global family.
Tangawarima, who is now based at the Fifa development office for Southern Africa in Gaborone, Botswana said a delay in the implementation of the laws would disadvantage the local match officials when they go for international assignments as well as work against Monomotapa who are representing Zimbabwe in the African Champions League.
Monoz will begin their maiden Champions League campaign with a home date against former winners and Tunisian giants Etoile du Sahel at Rufaro on July 19.
But it is the amendments especially to the contentious Law 11 that deals with the OFFSIDE offence, which is likely to generate huge interest from among the local teams.
In the past, the Law read: When an offside offence occurs the referee awards an indirect free kick to be taken from the position of the offending player when the ball was last played to him by one of his teammates.
If a defending player steps behind his own goal line in order to place an opponent in an offside position, the referee must allow play to continue and caution the defender for deliberately leaving the field of play without the referee's permission when the ball is next out of play.
However, the amendment makes it clear that from now on, any defending player leaving the field of play without the referee's permission shall be deemed to be still in play for the purposes of determining whether an attacker can be adjudged to be in an offside position.
A case in point is the Euro 2008 championships clash between Netherlands and Italy when Dutch striker Ruud van Niestelroy stabbed home a goal off a cross while an Italian defender lay sprawling behind his goal line.
Despite claims for an offside offence by Italy, the referee allowed the Dutch goal to stand and in amending the law Fifa reaffirmed the referee's decision.
Thus the amendment to Law 11 reads: (alteration in bold letters): When an offside offence occurs the referee awards an indirect free kick to be taken from the position of the offending player when the ball was last played to him by one of his teammates.
Any defending player leaving the field of play for any reason without the referee's permission shall be considered to be on his own goal line or touch line for the purposes of offside until the next stoppage in play. If the player leaves the field of play deliberately, he must be cautioned when the ball is next out of play.
Tangawarima said it was also imperative that coaches and players be educated on the amendment in order to avoid unnecessary protests with match officials.
The Seven-time Zimbabwe Referee of the Year also added his voice to Valcke's reminder to referees on the implementation of Law 5.
"There has been so much confusion with regards the issue of Fair Play when a player has gone down with an injury.
"The players need to be constantly reminded that they cannot take it upon themselves to stop the game by kicking the ball out in order for an injured player to be attended to.
"If a player kicks the ball out to stop play, the game will resume with a throw-in being awarded to the opposing team.
"Only the referee must stop the match if in his opinion a player is seriously injured. The referee would also have to check where the ball is before he stops play and when he resumes the game it re-starts with a drop ball," Tangawarima said.
Fifa, in their circular, also amended the restriction on the technical area, which now states that: "Only one person at a time is authorised to convey tactical instructions from the technical area."
It is no longer mandatory for the coach to return to his position, which means he can spend the entire 90 minutes barking instructions but he would have to behave in a responsible manner that does not interfere with the discharge of the match officials' duties.
Fifa also altered the rule which deals with kicks from the penalty mark, commonly known as penalty shoot-out.
"If at the end of the match and before the kicks start to be taken from the penalty mark, one team has a greater number of players than its opponents, it must reduce its number to equate with that of its opponents and the team captain must inform the referee of the name and number of each player excluded.
"Any player excluded may not participate in kicks from the penalty mark," reads the circular.
In terms of that amendment it means for instance, if CAPS United are playing Dynamos in a cup game and Makepekepe are reduced to nine men by the time the match goes into penalties, DeMbare skipper Desmond Maringwa would have to inform the referee of the names and number of two players to be excluded so that both sides will have nine players at the start of the shoot-out.
Those excluded players may not take part in the shoot-out. While admitting that the laws of the game remain complex especially for the ordinary person in the grandstands, Tangawarima urged local coaches and their players to make an effort to understand the rules governing the game on the pitch which he said would also stand them in good stead during international assignments.
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