A&H

Jewellery / Wrist Tape

Dicky Herts

Dicky Herts

Member
Hi. I have been applying the IFAB Laws of the Game Law 4 - The Players' Equipment that states "All items of jewellery (necklaces, rings, bracelets, earrings, leather bands, rubber bands, etc.) are forbidden and must be removed. Using tape to cover jewellery is not permitted."
However in virtually every match recently I am being challenged by players (and their coaches) with them wanting to wear bracelets or bands that the players claim have some religious significance and that they claim they cannot remove and is taped over. To add to the confusion I have seen an Essex FA document stating that Referees must make some allowance for religious jewellery including metal bands worn by Sikhs see p9&11…… https://www.thefa.com/-/media/cfa/e...Fkndcw11N2Sthly8fk_aem_uKm8qpbbM23g43WIMhlOeA

In addition I am also seeing players increasingly wearing tape around their wrists. I am asking if they have anything underneath and they claim they do not and I cannot see anything through /under the tape. What is the guidance on the tape (with no obvious jewellery) please? Is just plain tape allowed? Do you suggest asking the player to show the referee that there is nothing underneath it?

Thanks in advance.
 
A&H International
Dicky Herts said:
Hi. I have been applying the IFAB Laws of the Game Law 4 - The Players' Equipment that states "All items of jewellery (necklaces, rings, bracelets, earrings, leather bands, rubber bands, etc.) are forbidden and must be removed. Using tape to cover jewellery is not permitted."
However in virtually every match recently I am being challenged by players (and their coaches) with them wanting to wear bracelets or bands that the players claim have some religious significance and that they claim they cannot remove and is taped over. To add to the confusion I have seen an Essex FA document stating that Referees must make some allowance for religious jewellery including metal bands worn by Sikhs see p9&11…… https://www.thefa.com/-/media/cfa/e...Fkndcw11N2Sthly8fk_aem_uKm8qpbbM23g43WIMhlOeA

In addition I am also seeing players increasingly wearing tape around their wrists. I am asking if they have anything underneath and they claim they do not and I cannot see anything through /under the tape. What is the guidance on the tape (with no obvious jewellery) please? Is just plain tape allowed? Do you suggest asking the player to show the referee that there is nothing underneath it?

Thanks in advance.
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Firstly, well done for applying law and carrying out the required checks.

If a player / manager claims religious significance, and you don't know otherwise then I would lean towards allowing the player to play, unless there are very serious safety issues that need to be considered that can't be mitigated.

If it's a festival band, I'd be outright challenging that as an article of faith.

If you were unsure as to whether the item was a religious article ask the player specifically what it is and make a record and advise after the game you will check with the FA for your own learning in future and make an extraordinary report to say that player x wore y item which advised was an article of z faith. You were unsure as to whether this was and therefore allowed the player to play with ABC mitigating the safety issue for that game.

Tape is allowed, where it doesn't cover any jewelry; it's usually very obvious if there is something underneath. Depending on the level of the game if you suspect there is jewelry underneath, adults you could ask to feel and check (depending on locations usually the wrist), if youth then absolutely do not ask to make any contact with them. Instead ask them to remove the tape to show you. Again location dependent and ensure there are other responsible adults present.
 
Kes said:
Why on earth do players put tape on themselves (if it's not to conceal jewellry)?

Genuine question.
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Predominantly to protect the wrist, some info here, ignore the first photo as not relevant. Players often take it off as they are subbed and it is extremely rare to see anything underneath when they do this on televised games.

sterosport.co.uk

Taping Your Wrists for Football: Why and How | Sterosport

Sports taping is commonly used to prevent or reduce the risk of injury during a football match or training session. This article covers why we use sports tape in football, its benefits, how to tape a wrist, the best products and courses to use, and essential tips to tape wrists safely and...
sterosport.co.uk sterosport.co.uk
 
RustyRef said:
Predominantly to protect the wrist, some info here, ignore the first photo as not relevant. Players often take it off as they are subbed and it is extremely rare to see anything underneath when they do this on televised games.

sterosport.co.uk

Taping Your Wrists for Football: Why and How | Sterosport

Sports taping is commonly used to prevent or reduce the risk of injury during a football match or training session. This article covers why we use sports tape in football, its benefits, how to tape a wrist, the best products and courses to use, and essential tips to tape wrists safely and...
sterosport.co.uk sterosport.co.uk
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Yeah.
Having a piece of tape wound around your wrist gives literally no benefit to overall athletic performance, save for giving you pins and needles in your hand after a while.
But then, (IMO) footballers aren't historically the "sharpest knife in the drawer"!! 😉😁
 
One of the latest trends I’ve seen this year in my games is players wearing Whoop bands covered by tape

Had one game where an entire team had them on (club were obviously using them to collect data) -didn’t go down well when I asked them all to remove them.

Doesn’t help that I’ve seen a few PL players be allowed to wear them, covered by tape in televised games
 
CA1992 said:
Most PL players will wear club issue GPS pods that sit between their shoulder blades housed in a vest worn under the shirts

however some individuals may track their own ‘stats’ and Whoop appears to be the current trend (led by Cristiano)

You can see it under the tape on the wrist here - https://cdn1.unitedinfocus.com/uploads/14/2024/09/GettyImages-2169803850-scaled.jpg
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And if you see that as a referee you deal with it, very easy to do. But the fact is there is usually nothing under any tape on their wrists. If people want to challenge that I'd urge you to watch the next few televised EPL games and see what is on the arm when they take the strapping off.
 
CA1992 said:
One of the latest trends I’ve seen this year in my games is players wearing Whoop bands covered by tape

Had one game where an entire team had them on (club were obviously using them to collect data) -didn’t go down well when I asked them all to remove them.

Doesn’t help that I’ve seen a few PL players be allowed to wear them, covered by tape in televised games
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I was told by my accessor at a game to allow woop bands so always will now have had different accessor since who didn’t comment.
 
Kes said:
Whoop bands are effectively no different to a player wearing a watch (which isn't permitted) so I have no idea why an "accessor" might tell you that!!
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Exactly this. My day job has me working with a (non-football) team who are sponsored by Whoop so they all have one, and yeah, they’re just like watches.

Not happening on my pitch. 👨‍⚖️

(ETA: I did try one for a bit as they’re obviously free to us, but a) I hate wearing a watch to bed and b) it can tell me I need to rest and recover all it likes… still need to get up at 6:50 and go to work so pointless) 😂
 
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