Was talking to an assessor at weekend and was told that the will be 92 (Ninety Two) Law Amendments for the new season. I believe that they will be mainly re-wordings and the majority wont be too significant. Apparently though two will be, the ball no longer has to move forward from a kick off and a injured/treated player no longer has to leave the field of play after being treated.
Anybody know any others or have any thoughts??
As has already been pointed out, there is another thread where a longer list, giving more of the amendments, can be found.
To my mind, one of the more significant changes, at least in terms of how it will affect (the mechanics of) refereeing is the change in the position of a free kick resulting from an offside offence. Instead of where the player was when the ball last touched a team mate, it will be where he becomes active in play.
I don't know if the amendments will address the mechanics of this but it strikes me as potentially very problematic.
Assuming the offside-positioned player runs back into his own half before becoming active, what is the Assistant Referee supposed to do? Should he follow the player back into his own half so he can indicate the position of the free kick or does he stop at the half-way line? If the former, what happens if the player does not become active but instead, a team mate of his kicks the ball forward? The AR would then be totally out of position and unable to decide if another player has now taken up an offside position, since he would be in the wrong half of the field.
On the other hand, if he stops at the centre line, who will then decide where the free kick is to be given? Except at the higher levels where communications systems are in use, if the other AR or the referee are to make this decision, how will they know that the player actually was in an offside position before he came back (since the AR who knows that, is not supposed to raise his flag until the player becomes active)? They would have to be both watching the player to see if he becomes active, while at the same time, watching the AR in the half the player has left, to see whether he raises his flag or not.
Also, as bloovee pointed out on the other thread this could mean a free kick could be awarded in a "dangerous position" anywhere in the player's own half, including in or very close to his own penalty area. In terms of the punishment fitting the crime, it strikes me as slightly disproportionate that an offence that is sometimes not even caused by a voluntary action on the part of a player (and which for around a century and a half would have been considered to have taken place at the other end of the field) could lead almost directly (after just one touch) to a goal scoring opportunity for the opponent.
