INTERNATIONAL FOOTBALL ASSOCIATION BOARD
MEETING IN RIO DE JANEIRO, 9 MARCH 1996

POINTS FROM THE AGENDA - informal summary for general information.

1. Text regarding technical points in connection with the quality control of footballs.

2. Substitutes (Law 3): Proposal by FIFA to allow three subs from seven for all official competition matches, and up to seven in all other matches.

3. Advantage rule (Law 5): Proposal by England that if the referee applies the advantage and the anticipated advantage does not happen, he can still immediately punish the original offence.

4. Linesmen (Law 6): Proposal by Scotland that the Laws formally allow for the linesman's role in signalling offside or incidents behind the referee's back.

   Proposal by N. Ireland to station the linesman on the goal-line at penalty shootouts, so he can signal whether the ball has crossed the line.

5. Fouls and Misconduct (Law 12): Proposal by England to re-write part of this Law to better define the various offences.

6. Role of the 4th Referee: Proposal by Scotland to make the fourth referee more responsible for recording incidents occurring during the match.

7. Items for Discussion include:
   • Guidelines to encourage more actual playing time (Scotland) : instructions to referees re e.g. speedier substitutions, spare balls around the pitch, etc.

   • Safer portable goals (FIFA): recommendations regarding their design and fixation.

   • Reinforcement of the principle of the referee's decision on point of fact being irrefutable (FIFA).

   • Current experiments with the Laws and possible future experiments (FIFA)
     (no experiments specifically mentioned)

For any queries please contact:
Andreas Herren, Information Officer
Telephone: +41-1/384 9595
Telefax: +41-1/384 9696