Anyone who has followed the alterations to the laws of football over the last decade may be forgiven for thinking that the International FA Board, the organisation responsible for the Laws of the Game, has a fixation about players clothing or
Players Equipment as it is called in the Laws.
Just before the last two World Cups, the Board vetoed two innovations from the unlikely source of Cameroon. First, it banned
the sleeveless shirts their national team wore in the Africa’s
Cup, and then it prevented anyone following the Cameroon idea of wearing a one-piece suit.
In this year’s changes, the Board, which consists of four representatives from FIFA, and one each from the FAs of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, has again made a number of changes as to what a player can and can’t wear.
Most people are aware that it is a cautionable offence for a player to remove his shirt when celebrating a goal. However, I defy anyone, unless they have read the FIFA Instruction
Leaflet which is sent to all referees and clubs before the season starts, to guess what item the Board has now made it an offence to wear at a goal celebration. I’ll return to that later.
For a good number of years now, many players have been wearing what are called
'thermal shorts' under their football shorts. These are meant to help prevent thigh muscle strain. Since 1997 these have been included in the
Laws, saying that they must be of the same colour as the main colour of the football shorts.
In this year's changes, the word ‘thermal’ has been removed from the laws and now the law simply says that ‘if undershorts are worn they must
be of the same main colour as the football shorts’. What it doesn’t say, but which I think it means, is that this only applies if they are visible below the football shorts. I’m sure it isn’t intended that referees will ask players to drop their shorts before a game to check what colour pants they are wearing. Could be tricky when refereeing women’s matches.
There are players like James Harper of Reading, who amuse
me because, when given the choice by their clubs of long or short sleeves, choose short sleeves only to wear a long sleeved vest underneath. This practice has also come to the notice of the law makers and from this season the undergarment must be of the same colour as the sleeve of the shirt. Apparently this is to prevent any mix-up if an arm is raised in the penalty area.
The law also now goes on to say that this undergarment, or indeed any piece of player’s apparel, must not contain any political, religious or personal statements. This is not a yellow card offence but something that will be punished by the competition concerned.
Back to our item banned at goal celebrations. A new additional instruction to referees says, ‘A player must be cautioned when he covers his head or face with a mask or similar item to celebrate a goal’. I do recall a few seasons ago, seeing a player put on a ‘Zorro’ mask to run around the field, after scoring in an FA Cup tie but I don’t think this is aimed at him.
I have seen photos of much more elaborate masks (think of Spiderman) worn, I understand, by players in South America. However, I was told by Neale Barry, Head of Senior Referee Development and the
FA's representative on the International FA Board, the real reason is that players in the Caribbean have been wearing masks with religious connotations that have caused offence to opposing supporters.
As he said, football is an international game, and what may seem a frivolous alteration to football followers in this country, may help prevent a riot elsewhere in the world.
Dick Sawdon Smith
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© R Sawdon Smith 2007