Question Number: 15261

Law 4 - Players Equipment 4/23/2007

RE: Competitive Adult

phil wearmouth of sydney, NSW Australia asks...

Where in the rule book does it say you have to have your shirt tucked in? For some reason my local comp. seems to be pretty stringent on this. Surely it can't be a safety issue, and to be honest common sense would dictate that here in Sydney that comfort would be paramount when it gets hot.

Answer provided by Referee Gary Voshol

It is not in the Laws of the Game. It's just one of those things that "everyone knows" so IFAB/FIFA feel it can be left out of the text in the Laws. However, since here in the US not "everyone knows" everything about soccer/football, the USSF has put out a document entitled "Advice to Referees on the Laws of the Game". This document says that shirts must remain tucked in (Section 4.1). Perhaps AUS has a similar document in which some of these "everybody knows" items are listed, for the benefit of some of us everybodies that haven't gotten the message elsewhere.

Answer provided by Referee Chuck Fleischer

This is not mentioned. Footballers used to be gentlemen and consequently were not seen improperly attired. The being a gentleman thing changed...

If you elect to leave your shirt blowing in the breeze an opponent may become tangled in it and, perhaps, cause you to miss kick, run slower or even fall down. Pity, that... The other side of your shirt being all flying about is balance and balance being lost causes shots to go astray. Again a pity. Who cares if you accidentally fall down or miss a shot on goals? Come on Phil, tuck it in so the referee doesn't recognise you so easily. We all know what drawing undue attention gets you...

Answer provided by Referee Keith Contarino

Not only is it an "everyone knows" thing, but here in the States where we clearly do NOT know these things, we have been instructed to have players tuck their shirts in by US Soccer.