I thought that a player couldn't touch the ball until it had gone out the area. But watching the Womens World Cup I've seen a numerous occasions a player touching the ball when it's still in the 18 yds box.

Has the rule changed or is it different in the womens game?

It's one of the new laws for this season, which started 1 June. One of the better, more sensible changes, IMHO.

Prior to the rule change the ball wasn’t in play after a goal kick until it left the penalty area but it’s in play now immediately after the ball has been played.

I don't know if a striker can nip into the box and pinch it from a defender, for example, though?

whentheballmoves wrote:I don't know if a striker can nip into the box and pinch it from a defender, for example, though?

The ball is in play now once it's been touched rather than going out of the box. Once it is in play, anyone can play the ball.

ClaretTony wrote:The ball is in play now once it's been touched rather than going out of the box. Once it is in play, anyone can play the ball.

Are forwards allowed to stand in the box then or does the 10 yard rule for free kicks apply?

Quickenthetempo wrote:Are forwards allowed to stand in the box then or does the 10 yard rule for free kicks apply?

Interesting one that. Sure they will need to be 10 yards away.

I'm sure I read that opposing players had to be outside the area until the ball had been played but could then go in to challenge the defender.

Paulclaret wrote:I'm sure I read that opposing players had to be outside the area until the ball had been played but could then go in to challenge the defender.

Making them up as they go along by the looks of it.

ClaretTony wrote:Making them up as they go along by the looks of it.

All ratified by IFAB earlier this year. Opponents must remain outside the penalty area until the ball is in play, however, the ball is in play once the kick has been taken.
An interesting one with VAR being introduced is the fact that a player will be cautioned for removing their shirt after scoring a goal ---even if the goal is subsequently disallowed by VAR.

Ashingtonclaret46 wrote:All ratified by IFAB earlier this year. Opponents must remain outside the penalty area until the ball is in play, however, the ball is in play once the kick has been taken.
An interesting one with VAR being introduced is the fact that a player will be cautioned for removing their shirt after scoring a goal ---even if the goal is subsequently disallowed by VAR.

Do IFAB actually know what they are doing? Ten yards is fully understandable but it makes no sense to me forcing the players to remain outside the box.

So they will be at least 12yrds away from a goal kick?

Not really much different from what it is now other than the attacking players could possibly put the defender under quicker pressure

IFAB is made up of members of the four home football associations and four representatives from FIFA. Your guess is as good as mine.

Interesting that, if a keeper moves off their line at a penalty kick they are to be cautioned and presumably if the kick is ordered to be retaken and they move again they would receive a second yellow, However, they have decided, part way through the Womens' World Cup that. this will not appll in any penalty shoot-out! They made a decision about cautioning the keepers and then have decided to go against their own directive because VAR may highlight the problems in the shoot-out. It is pathetic.

Ashingtonclaret46 wrote:Interesting that, if a keeper moves off their line at a penalty kick they are to be cautioned and presumably if the kick is ordered to be retaken and they move again they would receive a second yellow, However, they have decided, part way through the Womens' World Cup that. this will not appll in any penalty shoot-out! They made a decision about cautioning the keepers and then have decided to go against their own directive because VAR may highlight the problems in the shoot-out. It is pathetic.

At least we are not using VAR for checking whether a keeper is off his line at a penalty

They have vendors selling hot dogs to the fans in their seats during VAR breaks by next season. I’m dreading it.

Ashingtonclaret46 wrote: An interesting one with VAR being introduced is the fact that a player will be cautioned for removing their shirt after scoring a goal ---even if the goal is subsequently disallowed by VAR.

Surely the offence is removing one's shirt irrespective of what the reason, so the VAR thing is irrelevant.

nil_desperandum wrote:Surely the offence is removing one's shirt irrespective of what the reason, so the VAR thing is irrelevant.

You are correct about the offence, however, when does a player usually commit this offence? I'll bet that, should his/her goal be subsequently disallowed by VAR, he/she would think that VAR is very relevant.

Ashingtonclaret46 wrote:You are correct about the offence, however, when does a player usually commit this offence? I'll bet that, should his/her goal be subsequently disallowed by VAR, he/she would think that VAR is very relevant.

I think the offence is in removing the shirt in celebration of a goal. The fact that it wasn't a goal probably makes no difference.

In fact, VAR makes very little difference to after-the-event bookings and sendings off. A foul worthy of a yellow and red card is still worthy of the card even if it subsequently turns out that the play was meaningless. The only exception I can see is for the "professional foul" where you haven't stopped a goalscoring chance if, for example, the forward subsequently proved to be offside. This is on the basis that the forward had no chance of scoring a legitimate goal. Of course, if the ref decides that the foul on the offside player was violent or dangerous, he can still give the straight red for serious foul play.

dsr wrote:I think the offence is in removing the shirt in celebration of a goal. The fact that it wasn't a goal probably makes no difference.

In fact, VAR makes very little difference to after-the-event bookings and sendings off. A foul worthy of a yellow and red card is still worthy of the card even if it subsequently turns out that the play was meaningless. The only exception I can see is for the "professional foul" where you haven't stopped a goalscoring chance if, for example, the forward subsequently proved to be offside. This is on the basis that the forward had no chance of scoring a legitimate goal. Of course, if the ref decides that the foul on the offside player was violent or dangerous, he can still give the straight red for serious foul play.

All well and good, however, what about a situation where the AR is told that the flag should not be raised, play continues and the keeper comes out to try and stop the forward but commits a foul and is given a second yellow card, because he has already been cautioned for being off his line at a penallty kick.
He is on his way off the pitch but then VAR advises that there was an offside situation in that build up and play should be restarted with a free kick to the defence.
What then happens to the keeper because he has been dismissed. Alternatively, you could have a similar situation where the keeper has stopped the attack but suffers a serious injury because the AR allowed play to go on even though he/she thought that it could well have been offside and is proved to be the case by VAR.

Ashingtonclaret46 wrote:All well and good, however, what about a situation where the AR is told that the flag should not be raised, play continues and the keeper comes out to try and stop the forward but commits a foul and is given a second yellow card, because he has already been cautioned for being off his line at a penallty kick.
He is on his way off the pitch but then VAR advises that there was an offside situation in that build up and play should be restarted with a free kick to the defence.
What then happens to the keeper because he has been dismissed. Alternatively, you could have a similar situation where the keeper has stopped the attack but suffers a serious injury because the AR allowed play to go on even though he/she thought that it could well have been offside and is proved to be the case by VAR.

The risk of serious injury is just one of those things. There's no more or less risk with a very marginal offside than there is in normal play.

As for the second yellow, if the refs interpret the rules correctly, it makes no difference. The second yellow is for persistent fouling or for unsporting behaviour (which in practice means a foul not bad enough for a red card). If someone commits a foul bad enough to get a booking, then it's a booking whether or not the ball was dead or about to be dead. If you late-tackle someone a split-second after the ball is dead because it's crossed the touchline, for example, you don't get away with it because the ball was dead. Same with VAR.

Where it might go awry is when the ref gives (as they sometimes do) a yellow card for a foul resulting in a penalty which would not be given as a yellow card anywhere else on the pitch, but refs somehow think a penalty foul that isn't a red card professional foul should instead be a yellow. And if the penalty is overturned for offside, they have still issued the yellow and they're stuck with it.

If a keeper of defender has been sent off for preventing a goalscoring opportunity and VAR proves he shouldn't have been because it wasn't a goalscoring opportunity after all, then he will be recalled.

dsr wrote:The risk of serious injury is just one of those things. There's no more or less risk with a very marginal offside than there is in normal play.

As for the second yellow, if the refs interpret the rules correctly, it makes no difference. The second yellow is for persistent fouling or for unsporting behaviour (which in practice means a foul not bad enough for a red card). If someone commits a foul bad enough to get a booking, then it's a booking whether or not the ball was dead or about to be dead. If you late-tackle someone a split-second after the ball is dead because it's crossed the touchline, for example, you don't get away with it because the ball was dead. Same with VAR.

Where it might go awry is when the ref gives (as they sometimes do) a yellow card for a foul resulting in a penalty which would not be given as a yellow card anywhere else on the pitch, but refs somehow think a penalty foul that isn't a red card professional foul should instead be a yellow. And if the penalty is overturned for offside, they have still issued the yellow and they're stuck with it.

If a keeper of defender has been sent off for preventing a goalscoring opportunity and VAR proves he shouldn't have been because it wasn't a goalscoring opportunity after all, then he will be recalled.

So should we just get rid of the onfield officials or ignore VAR because neither is going to be in control of the match. The referee's decision is no longer final ---the match is being controlled by a committee because there is often more than one VAR controller.
There really is no need to worry though because FIFA et al will just change TLOG to accommodate VAR as we can already see.