The English Premier League has announced new rules for the upcoming 2024/25 football season.
As domestic league games kick off on Friday, August 16, 2024, with an opening match between Manchester United and Fulham, there will be notable changes in the rules governing the games, according to a statement on the EPL website.
“There will be a difference this campaign in how match officials will be applying the rules of the game,” the statement read.
Subs Warming Up
The number of substitutes allowed in a single match remains at five, as it did in the previous season. However, during warm-ups, only three substitute players from each team were previously allowed to warm up simultaneously. Starting this season, the number of substitutes permitted to warm up at the same time on the perimeter of the pitch has increased to five players per team. This change aligns with the fact that teams can make five substitutions at any one time.
Multiball
The EPL will implement a multiball system in the 2024/25 season, using 15 balls to expedite the game. When the match ball goes out of play and is not quickly retrievable, players must go to the nearest cone to collect a replacement ball to restart play. The statement emphasized that “ball assistants are not permitted to return a ball to a player but should return it to a vacant cone.”
![A ball placed on a cone [Credit: Premier League]](https://cdn.punchng.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/09105756/cone.jpg)
**Ball Assistants Returning Balls**
Starting this new season, an exception to the rule is that “the ball assistants positioned behind the goals at the end where the ball goes out are allowed to return a ball to the goalkeeper who will take the restart.”
Deliberate Delays
The statement also added that the referee will send off a club’s technical area staff who deliberately delays the restart of play by holding onto the ball, kicking it away, etc. Similarly, players who engage in such behavior in the technical area will receive a yellow card.
More Accurate Calculation of Added Time
“From this season, when a goal is scored, match officials will only start adding time to the end of the match when the delay between the goal and the subsequent kick-off exceeds 30 seconds. This will allow natural time for both teams to resume their restart positions after each goal.
“Given that there were 3.28 goals scored per match last season on average, this change may result in a significant drop in stoppage time this season,” the statement noted.
