The PFA’s Assistant Chief Executive Richard Jobson will be involved in the debate over proposals for new law changes in football.
The recent proposals to law changes in the game will be decided by the International Football Association Board (IFAB). IFAB is the independent body authorised to decide and make changes to the laws of the game. Jobson has represented FIFPro, the World Players’ Union, at the IFAB Football Advisory Panel meetings over the past 3 years. He sits alongside the likes of Dutch legend Marco Van Basten, former Premier League goalkeeper Shaka Hislop, and 1998 World Cup Winner Christian Karembeu, as well as other expert members from across the world.
The Football Advisory Panel is a sub-committee that works with the Technical Advisory Panel, which is comprised of refereeing experts including Pierluigi Collina, Massimo Busacca and David Elleray. Both Panels will debate the proposed law changes and their advice will be offered to IFAB for their consideration.
Jobson’s experience as a professional footballer and his longevity of work with the PFA as an executive, makes him an important voice within the world-wide footballing community.
“We meet twice a year and discuss the various items on the agenda,” Jobson said. “All members of the Panel will offer input either individually, or in my case, get the stance of FIFPro and offer their opinions at the meeting.”
Some fresh proposals have been indicated in a new Play Fair document published recently by IFAB. New proposals include scrapping 45-minute halves and introducing two periods of 30 minutes with the clock being stopped for breaks in play. Another proposal is to stop rebound goals after a penalty-kick has been taken. If the goalkeeper has saved the shot, play would stop and a goal-kick would be awarded.
Law change proposals also include passing to yourself from a free-kick or corner and the award of a goal if the ball is handled and prevents a goal-scoring opportunity.
“These will be a whole range of issues that will be on the agenda for our next meeting,” Jobson said. “Both the Technical and Football Advisory Panels will offer their input on the proposals which will then be fed through to IFAB.”
Jobson will meet up with the IFAB Football Advisory Panel later this year.
The proposals will then be further analysed and debated at the IFAB Annual General Meeting, which will be held in March 2018.
“Whatever law changes are agreed will be implemented by IFAB the following season,” he said. “The IFAB AGM is held in March of each year so there are four months to make the necessary changes and disseminate the information across the world.”
This means that football fans, players and coaches won’t see any change in the laws of the game proposed in the recent Play Fair document until at least the start of the 2018/19 season.
Jobson believes that the IFAB Advisory Panels are beneficial to the game.
“They are taking advice from experienced former players,” he said. “There is also a lot of experience on the Technical Advisory Panel with former top referees from around the world.”
Any changes to the laws have to be scrutinized in detail, Jobson continued to say. Noting how it wasn’t just the top competitions in the world that undergo transformation of laws.
“You can’t just think about the Champions League, Premier League, Bundesliga or the World Cup, there is Grassroots football to consider too. The laws of the game have to be applied right across every level of the game.”
Jobson believes there has been great strides within the IFAB and its impact on the game. Most notably the recent addition of goal-line technology. The addition of a fourth substitute made headlines earlier this year as Kelechi Iheanacho became the first fourth substitute player to be used in extra time in last season’s FA Cup Semi-Final.
It was an addition to the game’s laws that the PFA and FIFPro championed after players and coaches saw benefits of a law change.
With the IFAB Football Advisory Panel scheduled to meet in October 2017, Jobson will receive an agenda a couple of months in advance.
“Once I receive the agenda, I will liaise with the FIFPRO Technical Committee, who will discuss all the items,” he said. “After confirming our position, I will present FIFPro’s views at the IFAB Football Advisory Panel meeting.”
The ultimate decision regarding changes to the laws of the game will be made by IFAB.
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