The big changes, which were “photographed” even by high-ranking FIFA officials and mainly related to the timing of the matches, were not finally discussed in detail at the 137th IFAB Annual General Assembly and logically received a postponement until its next meeting.

The International Football Association Board (IFAB) consists of the associations of England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales, which were formed by the first four, and the world (FIFA), and their decisions concern changes in football rules. Each of the four confederations of the United Kingdom has one vote, while FIFA has a total of four votes. IFAB decisions must be approved by 3/4 of the members, which corresponds to six votes. Thus, FIFA’s approval is necessary for any IFAB decision to be made, but cannot by itself change the Laws of the Game, as at least two of the four UK confederations must agree. There is also a quorum requirement that at least four of the five members, one of which must be FIFA, must be present for the meeting to take place.

Of course, this does not mean that no decisions have been made to make the sport even better in the future. One of them concerns VAR, as it was decided to extend the 12-month trial period that started at the 2022 Club World Cup in Morocco, when all reviews and discussions of the referee and VAR were broadcast to the stadium and TV viewers. Trials will also take place at the U-20 World Cup in Indonesia from May to June 2023, after which a decision will be made on whether they will be rolled out to other FIFA tournaments.

At the same time, the goal of FIFA and IFAB is to create a “light” version of VAR so that it can be promoted in countries that do not have the financial resources to implement the full version.

In terms of playing time and delays, three proposals have been put forward in the recent past. The first was to keep the existing structure and try to improve it, the second was in a statement by FA and Premier League official David Dean that the timer would stop and start when play was interrupted for certain reasons, while the third, which was also well received by the IFAB members, was implemented by FIFA chief referee Pierluigi Collina at the recent World Cup in Qatar, where the referees significantly extended stoppage time in both halves, bringing many matches even to 100 minutes. . “We want to fight the waste of time, we want the fans to enjoy the game,” said World Federation President Gianni Infantino, adding: “We must ensure the universal application of the Laws of the Game. We will be monitoring leagues around the world to ensure that stoppage times are correct.”

In addition, the question remains open about the changes associated with hits to the head and especially whether the player received a concussion. This is a moot point as player representatives have called for a review and review of the possibility of allowing temporary changes while the player is being examined by the team’s medical staff that will not affect the total number of changes each team is eligible for. The General Assembly decided that no tests would be conducted at this stage, but they remain under consideration.
Finally, it was decided to create a working group to focus on further ways to improve discipline and reduce aggression towards judges. The FA has already tested it at the amateur level with referees wearing body cameras recording all conversations with players and coaches.