There are people in charge of making football laws who think about changing the rules every year. The IFAB usually meets early in the year, and new rules are usually put into effect at the start of each football season.

It won’t be any different this term, but what changes are coming before the big start? We’ve listed eight important changes that will be made to the game in 2024–25. These changes should make football better for both players and fans in the Premier League and beyond.

What does IFAB mean?

The four British football associations and FIFA make up the IFAB (International Football Association Board). They vote on moves for all the other associations around the world. The top executives of each British FA, like Mark Bullingham of the English FA, make up the board of directors, which is in charge of them. Mattias Grafstrom, who is the Secretary General of FIFA, speaks for the organisation.

A group of advisory panels, which are made up of past players, referees, and managers, work with them.

There is a Football Advisory Panel that is made up of people from FIFA, UEFA, CONMEBOL, and the players’ union FIFPRO, among other groups. Some well-known people on the team right now are Arsene Wenger and Luis Figo.

A Technical Advisory Panel and a Technical Subcommittee are made up mostly of past officials, such as Pierluigi Collina and Nicola Rizzoli, who were referees for the finals of the World Cup.

Motions to keep and improve the rules of the game are put forward by IFAB. All of these motions need a two-thirds majority vote to pass at their AGM, which usually happens in February or March.

New rules for 2024–25

For the 2024–25 season, there will be a lot of new rules and instructions. Some are signs of progress in technology, while others are smaller changes that will affect the experience of going to a game next season, whether you’re playing, watching, or judging.

The Premier League will use semi-automatic offsides from now on.

The adoption of semi-automated offside technology (SAOT) will be one of the most important changes to hit the English top flight. In 2022, the technology was used for the first time at the World Cup. It was also present at Euro 2024 in the summer.

Multiple cams look at each player’s joints to see if anyone is offside. But, unlike the European Championship this summer, where a chip inside the match ball makes choices more accurate, it doesn’t look like the Premier League will use this extra piece of technology.

Another interesting thing is that it won’t be out right away; it’s set to debut in the fall.

The rules for handball have been changed again!

Handball has been a pain for football fans for a long time. This summer, the law will be changed again in a small way, which could be a good thing.

New rules say that handballing without meaning to will not get you a red card in the penalty area. This is the same as how mistakes in the box are handled under the double jeopardy rule.

At the moment, judges won’t show a red card if they think the player was trying to play the ball while making a foul in the box. Handballs will now be judged by this logic, though the argument over what is and isn’t a handball is expected to go on for a long time.

Taking away the concussion sublimit

Laws from the past said that teams could only make one concussion replacement. This limit is being taken away right now to protect the safety of the players. It’s now up to the teams to make as many injury specialists as they need.

While this sounds like a good change, it’s important to keep in mind that it could be abused.

New rules on penalty kicks and encroachment

The politicians made it clear that the ball must be placed on or over the middle of the penalty spot in order for it to be counted.

Encroachment has also been changed. In the past, encroachment was punished even if it didn’t give the other person an advantage. From now on, players will only be punished if it has an effect. This makes sense when you think about what goalkeepers do during spot kicks.

Trained officials will “announce” VAR choices.

One big change that will happen this season is that referees will have to explain choices that are changed by VAR. When it comes to VAR technology, officials have been eager to improve communication and make the experience for fans inside the venue better.

A similar system was used at the 2023 Women’s World Cup, where the referee would tell the crowd what the ruling was. We won’t know for sure how it will work until it’s shown off.

Even though this didn’t really matter, it looks like referees will only make announcements if their original choices are changed. Fans will not be able to hear VAR talks during the game, so hopefully they will be given a little more information about how the decisions were made.

VAR can help with choices made by goal line techs

With a small change, VAR will be able to confirm decisions made by the Goal Decision System by giving the match referee details. It’s likely that this would be needed if the referee’s watch wasn’t working right or if there was a technology problem.

Changes to the times when the PL team is announced

In the Premier League, teams will now say who will play 75 minutes before the game. Before, games were only 60 minutes long. This makes the Premier League more like UEFA events.

The Premier League no longer has a winter break.

The Premier League has chosen to start the season a week later than usual so that players have more time to rest over the summer. This is not really a rule, but it is how things are set up.

In the past, there was a winter break in January during which only five games were played each weekend for two weeks. This gave players a break after the often busy Christmas schedule. The players should be glad about this, though some may find it hard to get a well-deserved break…