Premier League: Rule changes for VAR, offside, handball, added time and more

Aug. 16, 2024, 12:18 p.m.

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With some exciting international footballing action having taken place over the summer, in the Euro and Copa America as well as in the Paris Olympics, it’s time for us to shift our attention back to club football with with 2024-25 season of the Premier League (PL) set to kick off from Friday.

For the fourth season in a row and for the sixth time in the last seven years, Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City begin the season as the defending champions and once again start as the title favourites. Arsenal have finished Premier League runners-up for consecutive seasons now and will be hoping to go a step further in the new season and land their first title since 2003-04.

Advertisement Liverpool, who finished third last season behind City and Arsenal, will be aiming for a strong start under new manager Arne Slot. Meanwhile, Manchester United, after their disappointing eighth-place finish last season, will be hoping for better results under manager Erik ten Hag, who saved his job with an FA Cup final victory over City.

Before the 2024-25 season gets underway with United facing Fulham at the iconic Old Trafford Stadium on Friday, we take a look at everything that’s new or different this year:

VAR

In a first, the International Football Association Board (IFAB) — football’s lawmaking body — has decided to provide real-time updates on the decisions made using the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) by creating a dedicated account on microblogging platform X (formerly Twitter). The league therefore, will be providing further clarity on decisions made using the technology, which could help avoid controversies over contentious calls.

Welcome to the Premier League Match Centre X account. This page will deliver live updates from Stockley Park, including direct information from the VAR Hub. We'll provide near-real-time updates on operational aspects of all matches – including clarifications regarding refereeing and VAR.

— Premier League Match Centre (@PLMatchCentre) August 13, 2024 It’s not just X where explanations for VAR decisions will be provided — it will also be flashed on giant screens at venues.

That’s not all, however. VAR will also introduce the concept of ‘Referee’s Call’ — wherein the referee’s original decision will have an influence on decisions that are not as straightforward and have plenty of room for doubt.

Off-side

The 2024-25 Premier League season will see the introduction of a Semi-Automated VAR Offside Technology (SAOT). However, full implementation is still pending, as SAOT requires further testing before it can be officially deployed.

The technology, which automatically tracks players using cameras mounted under the stadium roof, is anticipated to be implemented after one of the three international breaks before Christmas. It's expected to speed up VAR offside decisions by 31 seconds.

Advertisement However, in certain scenarios, officials may need to rely on VAR to manually draw offside lines on TV footage. This will be necessary in situations where players might be obscured from view.

Handball

The league has also amended the handball rule in order to reduce the number of soft penalties being awarded. In the amended rule, if there’s a deflection off the arm that clearly alters the trajectory of the ball, there will be on handball offence.

The reasoning behind this rule change is that the player whose arm deflected the ball and their team have little to gain from a ball that has been redirected significantly from its original trajectory.

Advertisement However, minor deflections can attract penalties.

Encroaching

Another change is the rule regarding encroachment during penalty kicks. Whether a penalty needs to be retaken will now depend on both the attackers and defenders, and whether they are found to be illegally entering the penalty box.

Previously, penalty kicks were only required to be retaken if an attacking player who scored from a rebound or saved shot was found to have had their foot inside the penalty area before the kick was taken, thus materially influencing the outcome.

However, under the amended rule, a penalty will not be retaken if an attacking player scores off a rebound, and a defending player has not materially impacted the play. In such cases, the defending team will be awarded a free kick, instead of the traditional penalty retake.

Advertisement Similarly, if an encroaching defender clears a loose ball off a rebound or a save and isn’t marked by an attacker, play will continue instead of the referee ordering the penalty to be retaken.

The idea here is to reduce the number of retaken penalties.

DOGSO

A new rule this season is the "Denying an Obvious Goal-Scoring Opportunity" (DOGSO) rule. This rule will result in a penalty and red card for a defender who deliberately blocks an attacker from scoring a goal using non-footballing actions like holding or pulling.

According to the revised rules, a handball offense inside the penalty area, commonly known as a DOGSO, will result in a penalty kick regardless of the circumstances. However, a red card will be given to the defender only if the handball is deemed deliberate. In instances where the handball is deemed unintentional, the defender will receive a yellow card, and a penalty kick will be awarded to their opponents.

Added time

The Premier League has implemented a new rule limiting goal celebrations to a maximum of 30 seconds. Any celebrations exceeding this time limit will be added to the end of the half. The league aims to reduce the amount of extra time played, which last season saw matches extend beyond the 100th minute in some cases.