1992 MEMORANDUM



Law IV -- Players' Equipment



1. The term "sent off" has been replaced by the phrase "instructed to leave
the field" to eliminate confusion. The words "sent off" or "send off" now
apply only to misconduct under Law XII where a player is ordered off and may
not return.

2. The procedures to be used by referees have been changed as follows:

a. If the referee notices a player with missing equipment or equipment that
requires adjustment [illegal equipment], play should be allowed to continue
until the next stoppage of play.

b. If the discrepancy is corrected before that stoppage, no action by the
referee is required.

c. If the discrepancy is NOT corrected by that stoppage, the referee (and
only the referee) shall instruct the player to leave the field until the
discrepancy is corrected.

d. The player may return (1) ONLY after the referee has inspected the
equipment and found it acceptable AND (2) ONLY at a stoppage of play.



Law V -- Referees

The law now requires the referee to display a yellow card when cautioning a
player or substitute and a red card when sending off a player or substitute.
Thus, the cards are mandatory equipment.



Law XII -- Fouls and Misconduct

[The change discussed below involves passes to the goalkeeper's hands and
was incorporated into Law XII, 4c: the discussion is provided here to
explain how referees are to implement the new minor foul.]

The wording of the law change focuses on three components of the punishable
action. If a defender (1) deliberately (2) kicks the ball and the goalkeeper
subsequently (3) touches the ball with his or her hands, the referee is to
stop play and award an indirect free kick to the opposing team from the
place where the goalkeeper touched the ball EXCEPT in the goal area. In the
goal area, the kick would be taken from the goal area line as specified in
Law XIII.

For a team to be penalized, (1) the ball must have been kicked with the foot
by a teammate of the goalkeeper, (2) the kick must have been deliberate (not
a deflection or an accidental kick), and (3) the goalkeeper must touch the
ball with his or her hands. The goalkeeper may still play the ball with any
other part of the body except the hands (like a field player) without
penalty.

FIFA Circular 488 (issued after the original law change Circular #486)
further specifies that trickery by a player to try to get around the intent
or "spirit" of the law shall be punished as ungentlemanly conduct and an
indirect free kick awarded to the opponents. [This was subsequently
incorporated as Law XII, IBD 18.] So, if a player flicks the ball from his
feet to his head or the head of a nearby teammate and the ball is headed to
the goalkeeper, the first player has committed misconduct REGARDLESS whether
the goalkeeper touches the ball with his hands or not. Play SHALL be stopped
when the player commits the act of trickery (e.g., flicking up to the head
or bending down to play the ball with the thigh rather than kicking with the
foot), the player SHALL be cautioned, and an indirect free kick shall be
awarded to the opposing team from that point (except in the goal area where
the provisions of Law XIII apply).

[The 1992 Memorandum created a new procedure for displaying yellow and red
cards when a player was being sent off for persisting in misconduct under
Law XII. This procedure was subsequently changed in 1993 -- see below.]



Further Specific Instructions

The International Board provided very strong language to referees, requiring
them to become stricter when dealing with timewasting. REMEMBER: Our goal is
to get as much playing time as possible out of the scheduled game time.
Specific mention was made to penalizing:

(1) players who pick up the ball and throw or kick it away after a free-kick
has been awarded to the opponents,

(2) encroachment (this means players moving toward the ball and less than 10
yards from the ball) by a defensive wall,

(3) standing on or in front of the ball at the taking of a free kick by the
other team,

(4) parrying the ball by the goalkeeper (Law XIII, IBD 17), and

(5) steps by the keeper (Law XII, 5a)