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| FIFA.com |
The guardians of football's rules
The 130th Annual General Meeting (AGM) of The IFAB will take place at St. David’s Hotel in Cardiff on Saturday 5 March and will be chaired by David Griffiths, President of the Football Association of Wales. The agenda for the meeting is now available on www.theifab.com.
The AGM will be asked to ratify what represents the most comprehensive revision of theLaws of the Game ever undertaken in The IFAB’s history. The new format will be more clear and concise, with half the current word count and improvements to the structure, layout, terminology, phrasing and consistency.
The revision has been an 18-month project of The IFAB Technical Sub-Committee, led by former English Premier League referee David Elleray, and has included close consultation with the two advisory panels that were set up in 2014 to support the board with greater expertise before decisions are passed. The ultimate aim is to increase the universality of the Laws by making them easier to understand so that football throughout the world benefits from consistent interpretation and application.
The topic of video assistance for match officials will also be discussed, with the AGM set to vote on whether or not to approve the introduction of live trials. It follows the strong recommendation given by the Board of Directors during The IFAB Annual Business Meetingin January for such experiments to be given the go ahead, subject to a set of protocols being finalised.
Additional items on the agenda include 'triple punishment', the use of 'sin bins', electronic performance and tracking systems and 'Law 3 – The Number of Players' in terms of potentially allowing a fourth substitute in extra time.
As part of the deliberations, The IFAB will analyse feedback from the Football Advisory Panel and Technical Advisory Panel, which consist of representatives from across the world of football and meet twice a year to discuss topical matters related to the Laws.
In other business, members will receive an update on the development of The IFAB’s new website, which is expected to be launched in May 2016 and will not only include more information on the Laws of the Game and their application, but also offer educational material for referees, coaches, players, fans, the media and any other interested parties.
The IFAB members (the football associations of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, as well as FIFA, representing the other 205 national associations) take turns to host the AGM in rotation. Any amendment to the Laws of the Game requires a majority of six out of eight votes.
The decisions taken at last year’s IFAB AGM are available here.
The decisions taken at last year’s IFAB AGM are available here.