Changes to laws regarding unsporting behaviour and players' equipment will become part of the game today as the Confederations' Cup gets under way as decided by the International Football Association Board (IFAB), the sport's ultimate law-making body, in
Italian referee Roberto Rosetti and his linesmen have the joy of being the first officials to utilise the new interpretations when they officiate at the tournament's opening match between
The new interpretation, approved by the IFAB, clarifies three issues of the offside law where a player is actively in play - whether he is interfering with play, interfering with an opponent or gaining an advantage by being in an offside position.
The new decisions are as follows:
• Interfering with play means playing or touching the ball passed or touched by a team mate.
• Interfering with an opponent means preventing an opponent from playing or being able to play the ball by clearly obstructing the opponent's line of vision or movements or making a gesture or movement which, in the opinion of the referee, deceives or distracts an opponent.
• Gaining an advantage by being in an offside position means playing a ball that rebounds to him off a post or crossbar or playing a ball that rebounds to him off an opponent having been in an offside position.
Players will also be booked for unsporting conduct which deliberately wastes time, including kicking the ball away when the referee has awarded a free-kick, or for delaying tactics when the ball has gone out of play.
There will also be a strict enforcement on players' equipement, especially anything that could be a danger to players and their opponents.
Fernando Tresaco Gracia, of FIFA's referee's committee, said this week:
"We'll also be rigorous in enforcing the laws relating to players' equipment in this championship. Players should know it is strictly forbidden to enter the pitch wearing potentially dangerous items such as pendants, necklaces or rings."
Despite the introduction of these new laws, the major discussion at the IFAB meeting - whether or not to use goal-line technology - will not be experimented with until the World Under-17 championship in