Question Number: 30037

1/21/2016

RE: N/A

Peter Grove of Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire England asks...

This question is a follow up to question 30020

While it is not mentioned in the referenced article, I have it on good authority (from a source in the IFAB) that there will be changes to the wording of the 'Offence' section of Law 11 to eliminate the logical inconsistency it currently contains.

According to this source (and so long as all the proposed changes are approved at the upcoming IFAB AGM) the new wording will be as follows:

'A player in an offside position at the moment the ball is played or touched by one of his team is only penalised if he becomes involved in active play by: (¦)'

Answer provided by Referee Richard Dawson

Ah but Peter,
do you know if they change the spot for the offence to be restarted ! Lol As I said I see little gain other than a casual chat to comment yet on things not cast in stone.
cheers

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Peter
Good to hear from you again. We are all looking forward to the new iteration of the Laws.
Perhaps you might help me here. It was mentioned in the media on a comment attributed to Mr David Elleray who is involved in the update that citing a row in the tunnel between Patrick Vieira and Roy Keane before an Arsenal-Manchester United match in 2005, that the two players could not have been sent off in the event of a full-scale fight. It was also reported that the reason was that the laws were written at a time before it was not customary for teams to line up next to each other in the tunnel before kick-off. It went on to say that in future referees will be able to punish red-card offences any time after the pre-match inspection.
Now I am at a loss on this as the Laws are clear that a player can be sent off before kick off and that he can be replaced by a substitute. Law 3 states and has done so before 2005 that *A player who has been sent off before the kick-off may be replaced only by one of the named substitutes.
A named substitute who has been sent off, either before the kick-off or after
play has started, may not be replaced.* So Keane and Vieira could have been sent off if it escalated and replaced. What am I missing or is it a misquoting?

The following questions were asked as a follow up to the above question...

See Question: 30038

See Question: 30039