The Technical Committee of Referees has announced the new rules that will be applied in LaLiga from next Thursday, when the championship begins. The Committee, chaired by Luis Medina Cantalejo, has held several seminars throughout this summer and has reached various conclusions. Some are striking and reflect the line shown by the refereeing in the last European Championship and in the football tournament of the Olympic Games.
The new measures have been announced in a circular and will be explained to LaLiga coaches and players this week. The rule regarding the respect that players must have for refereeing decisions is very striking. Thus, following the example of what happened in the last tournaments organised by FIFA and UEFA, only the captain will be able to speak to the referee, who will have the option of explaining to the team representative why he has made a certain decision.
“Following the example of FIFA and UEFA to improve the image of fair playIn their competitions, Spanish referees will offer, in important situations, a brief explanation to the captains to clarify the decision taken on the field of play or the progress of the check being carried out by the VAR in relation to that action. This interaction must be carried out with mutual respect. If this principle is breached, the referee will take the corresponding disciplinary decisions. The rest of the players cannot approach any member of the refereeing team to show disagreement with any of the decisions taken. In case of non-compliance, they will be cautioned,” states the Committee circular.
Another conclusion reached by the Spanish referees is that continued grappling in the area will be sanctioned as a penalty. Not all grappling will be punished, but continued grappling will be, as occurred in the final of the Olympic Games in France-Spain with Turrientes’ action with Kalimuendo. Until now, the referees warned about grappling inside the area and then no penalty was called. Now, when there is a tackle, a penalty will be called.
The circular stresses that minor contacts in the area will not be awarded as penalties, urging the VAR to cancel penalties awarded when the contact is minimal. “In line with previous seasons, we have continued to insist that referees not sanction ‘minor contacts’, but that the sanction of a penalty must correspond to a clear and significant infringement by a defender, with a correlation between cause and effect, with sufficient intensity to justify the sanction. Similarly, the instruction given to the VAR Referees is that, in the case of minor contacts, they should not intervene to recommend that the referee sanction them, but to cancel penalties that have been wrongly sanctioned on the field of play,” clarifies the referee’s circular.
The Technical Committee also confirmed the implementation of the semi-automatic offside system in LaLiga. “During the next season, in the First Division, the semi-automatic offside system (SAOT) will be implemented, which will help video assistant referees to resolve checks related to the detection of offside in actions prior to a goal, penalty or obvious goal-scoring opportunities more quickly. This tool will help increase the effective playing time and provide greater speed and credibility to the decisions taken.”
The possibility of making one more substitution in matches in the event of a player’s concussion, the extent of which is confirmed by the medical services, has also been approved. In this case, a team may make up to six substitutions. Similarly, the same has been said in the previous season regarding hands inside the penalty area. Intentional hands, hands in an unnatural position and hands immediately after the goal, even if accidental, will be penalised.
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