IFAB LoTG 2018/19 book

[RobOda]

Haven’t read the whole thing yet but found myself pulling a face when reading ‘extra persons on the field of play’ section.

That, offences off the field and the penalty kick offences are the three major ones that consistently confuse me even today.

 

[socal lurker]

I can only imagine this ambiguity is a deliberate method by IFAB to keep us on our toes, bless them!

You are giving them far too much credit.

Maybe I'm cynical, but in committee drafting, sometimes the confusion comes because the committee doesn't actually agree. The language gets agreed upon because some members think in means x and some think it means y--and we have to guess. (The same thing is sometimes true in interpreting laws that come out of legislative bodies.) I also think provisions get written with a very specific incident in mind, and that not enough thought goes in to what the language means outside of the narrow confines of why it was written.