Voting on six football rules tweaks to be revealed on Tuesday

Delegates had until 10pm on Monday evening to decide on the six proposed changes.

Mon, 10 Mar, 2025 - 21:38

John Fogarty

The fate of the six tweaks proposed by the Football Review Committee (FRC) to their suite of rule changes will be revealed on Tuesday.

The six motions followed the 49 proposals that were backed by Special Congress last November and delegates had until 10pm on Monday evening to decide on them.

Those that are passed will come into operation from this weekend’s penultimate round of the Allianz Football League and for the provincial championships starting early next month.

The first motion passed at Special Congress enabled Central Council to make changes to the experimental rules tabled by FRC. Chief among the tabled alterations is the insistence that four players must now remain in their team’s own half at all times. A goalkeeper would still be able to move past the halfway line but to do so there must be four of his team-mates behind him.

Teams who lose players to either black or red cards would also have to retain three players in the opposition’s half. That follows an anomaly that arose in a number of recent league games where numerically disadvantaged teams were allowed to keep up only two players and in some cases just one.

Delegates in the online meeting prior to the voting were also briefed on the easing of accidental or incidental breaches of the four-back, three-up rule. If supported, players who stray up to four metres across the halfway line or are not interfering in the play will not be punished.

Another proposal allows for a player who claims a kick-out mark to play on immediately and not be challenged for four metres. If the player is illegally challenged in that space, a free kick shall be awarded 50 metres more advantageous than the position of the original mark up to the opponents’ 13m line. There is also the option of bringing it back for a two-point free attempt outside the 40m arc.

Another motion recommended that an advantage has accrued if a point or a goal is scored. If no advantage has accrued to the team of the player awarded the mark, the referee will signal “no advantage gained” and the ball will be taken back to the point of the mark.

The word “directly” was also set to be removed from the definition of a two-point score being kicked from on or outside the 40m arc to allow for kicks striking the uprights or crossbar and then falling within the posts.

The FRC also called for a misconduct at games infraction by a team official to cost their team a 20m free as opposed to a 13m free and the option of bringing the free brought out to the 40m arc for a two-point attempt.

Guidelines pertaining to the clock/hooter and the time limit of goal kicks were also put forward. The end of each half would be confirmed after the ball has gone out for a score, wide or sideline kick following the sounding of the hooter.

The time afforded to goalkeepers for restarting the game is set to be extended from 20 seconds to 30.