In double-checking something for the kick to the GK discussion, I went to IFAB and was having a look at their documents. I opened up a document detailing the revisions to the laws for 2017/2018 (here), and got confused with Law 8 - Start and Restart of Play.
Old text: The kicker can stand in the opposite half of the field of play
New text: For every kick-off all players, except the player taking the kick-off, must be in their own half of the field of play.
I'm sure the intention is that they want to mean that the player taking the kick-off can stand in either half, but that's not what they have actually written it. To me, the law now reads that the player taking the kick-off MUST be in the other teams' half of the fop. For me, better wording would have been:
For every kick-off all players must be in their own half of the field of play, except the player taking the kick-off who may be in either half.
Old text: The kicker can stand in the opposite half of the field of play
New text: For every kick-off all players, except the player taking the kick-off, must be in their own half of the field of play.
I'm sure the intention is that they want to mean that the player taking the kick-off can stand in either half, but that's not what they have actually written it. To me, the law now reads that the player taking the kick-off MUST be in the other teams' half of the fop. For me, better wording would have been:
For every kick-off all players must be in their own half of the field of play, except the player taking the kick-off who may be in either half.