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The Referee Corner: 

The 2023-24 Laws are now in force

The governing body of soccer (IFAB) has published the 2023-24 version of the Laws of the Game. This month’s Referee corner will preview the major changes.



In their introduction to the Managing Changes to the Law, IFAB stated the following:

Football must remain attractive and enjoyable for players, match officials and coaches, as well as spectators, fans, and administrators, regardless of age, gender, race, religion, culture, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or disability. Therefore, for a Law to be changed, The IFAB and it all its bodies that are involved in the decision-making process must be convinced that the change will benefit the game; this sometimes means that the potential change needs to be tested.

For every proposed change, the focus is on fairness, integrity, respect, safety, the enjoyment of participants and spectators and, where appropriate, using technology to enhance the game. The IFAB will continue to engage with the global football community so that changes to the Laws benefit football at all levels and in every corner of the work, and so that the integrity of the game, the Laws, and the match officials re respected, valued and protected.



Here are the main changes for the next year:

• The 131^st AGM of the IFAB held in London on March 3, 2017 approved the use of temporary dismissals (sin bins) for all or some cautions/yellow cards in youth, veterans, disability, and grassroots football, subject to the approval of the competition’s national FA, confederation, or FIFA, whichever is appropriate.
• A temporary dismissal is when a player commits a cautionable offense and is punished by an immediate suspension from participating in the next part of that match. The philosophy is that an “instant punishment” can have a significant and immediate positive influence on the behavior of the offending player and, potentially, the player’s team.
• Temporary dismissals apply to all players (including goalkeepers) but not for cautionable offenses committed by a substitute or substituted player.
• The length of the temporary dismissal should be between 10-15% of the total playing time (e.g., 10 minutes in a 90-minute match; 8 minutes in an 80-minute match)
• More details will be forthcoming at the beginning of the Spring season.
• Law 11 includes more specific language regarding “deliberate play”
• Deliberate play (excluding deliberate handball) is when a player has control of the ball with the possibility of passing the ball to a team-mate, gaining possession of the ball, or clearing the ball (e.g., by kicking or heading it)
• If the pass, attempt to gain possession or clearance by the player in control of the ball is inaccurate or unsuccessful, this does not negate the fact that the player ‘deliberately played’ the ball.
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We will review specific changes in more detail as the Spring season starts. Enjoy the Holidays and we look forward to seeing you back on the pitch in a couple of months.

Thank you for giving us the opportunity to be a part of your game. 

The Referee Blog

From the classroom to the pitch. Developing your Referees…

The season is ending with multiple College Showcase tournaments. These tournaments are good barometers to evaluate the state of soccer in Kansas City and the midwest. We get to see the skills and tactics of the players, the demeanor of the coaches, the enthusiasm of the spectators, and the development and maturity of the Referees. What did we see in November of 2023?

The Players: Player skills and tactical understanding of the game of soccer continues to get more sophisticated. There were a number of matches I observerd in which the attacking build-up was almost clinical. You could see players taking advantage of space. Attacks featured skilled possessions and accurate crosses to players running into dangerous attacking areas. When the defenders got possession, there were a number of plays that included short passes to get out of pressure (versus the kick the ball as hard as you can to eliminate the threats). Another observation was the speed of the attackers with the ball at their feet. Sure, these were showcase events, but when you see this level of skills and tactical awareness in several hundred teams the conclusion is that soccer in the midwest is getting much more serious.

The Coaching: Showcase tournaments feature two groups of coaches – those that are coaching the teams on the pitch and those that are scouting and evaluating the players with the prospect of providing scholarships if the players will consider attending their schools. The scouting coaches are looking at soccer understanding, effort, teamwork, skills and demeanor. Multiple coaches shared with me that chemistry and positive attitudes by the players (and their parents) are desired traits they look for. They are not interested in prima donnas and hot heads. And, the coaches who were coaching the players in their games were some of the most positive I have seen this year. They appreciated effort and praised it as much as they did results. The players responded well to this type of coaching.

Of course there were exceptions, but they were few and far between. There were some aggravations based on decisions (or non-decisions) on the pitch, but the general opinion was to let the players play and the Referees officiate.

The Fans: Passion and appreciation are the best descriptions of the fan participation during these tournaments. The fans were much different during the showcase tournaments than they were during the competitive tournaments. They enjoyed seeing skilled soccer being played. Yes, they wanted their team to win. When the opponent made a great play, fans from both teams cheered. I think they enjoyed themselves and enjoyed the beautiful game being played by their kids.

The Referees: Several match performances by the officials stood out during my observations of the November tournaments.

• In a U19 boys Division 1 match between 2 teams from out of town, I saw a very fast paced match that included physical challenges (remember, soccer is a contact sport). Most of the challenges were fair and the players responded by continuing to play. Then there was a challenge by an attacker on a fast break. The defender got between the attacker and the ball. The attacker charged the defender and put him on the ground. The temperature immediately went up. The Referee called the foul, but the player who was the receiver of the charge wanted at least a Yellow Card to the offender. The Referee elected to manage the foul by talking to the players instead of issuing the caution. During the half-time break we talked about what to expect in the second half. The Referee recognized that the temperature of the match had escalated and knew that he would have to manage the players closer to prevent escalations. This was a mature observation by an experienced Referee. He worked even harder in the second half, managed the players with authority, issued several Yellow Cards, and based on his efforts and game management there were no Red Cards during the second half. The Referee correctly identified what was needed and executed appropriately. The players, the coaches and the Referee team had a successful match.
• In another U19 boys Division 1 match with one local team and an out of town team) we again had a very fast paced and physical match. One of the coaches dispatched one his players to find someone who was responsible for the Referees, and they found me (I was watching the match from the cart path). The coach’s concern was that the Referee had just finished a U19 girls match and was in the center for this boy’s match. His team had traveled from Dallas for this Showcase tournament and he felt that it was not fair to have the Referee do back to back centers. It didn’t help that the Referee called a Penalty Kick against his team while the Referee was in the Center Circle. The match concluded but there were several incidents reported where the Referee did not manage the game the way everyone expected the Referee to manage the game. There were mutiple fouls that weren’t called and at least one incident of potential “Serious Foul Play” that was managed as a simple foul.

The comments by the coach, “it is not fair to have a Referee do back to back competitive centers” are what I want to focus on here. During the fall season we were able to have a full officiating crew on a majority of the matches. We were only able to do this by having many of our Referees do back to back to back centers. 

During the Heartland/KSYSA Awards banquet we will once again recognize our “Iron Man” award recipients. The Iron Man Award is given to Referees who do at least 150 matches in the calendar year. For 2023 there were 20 officials who achieved this milestone (and another 36 who worked at least 100 matches). There were 527 officials that did less than 10 matches during the 2023 calendar year. Is the solution getting more Referees or is it getting those who are certified to be available for more games? Certainly getting the 527 Referees to do more matches would grow their experience and give us a much larger pool of officials to center your matches. This will help us develop your Referees to reach the level of effectiveness that will create a safer and fairer experience in Kansas.

If you are a certified Referee, consider increasing your availability to do matches. It will help you grow and develop life skills that will stay with you forever. If you have not certified, but are thinking about it, we would welcome seeing you in a Referee class to get certified so that you can help the game to grow and be the best it can be at Heartland. Go to our web site (https://www.kansasreferee.org/) and sign up for a Referee clinic.