New Premier League rule changes set to impact the 2024/25 season
By Tom Vinall
Per Times Sport and Dale Johnson of ESPN, The PGMOL (Professional Game Match Officials Limited), there are a couple of rules that have been tweaked/changed on the eve of the 24/25 Premier League season.
Firstly - the handball rule. Just when you thought it was impossible to change a rule that has seemingly been changed three million times, they make it three million and one time.
Dale Johnston states: "Now if there is a deflection off the foot or body that clearly alters the trajectory of the ball and it hits the arm, there will be no handball offense - even if the arm is extended away from the body or above the head.
The logic is that a player cannot be gaining an advantage with the arm if the deflection takes the ball in a completely different direction to that of the original shot or cross.
However, if there is only a small deflection, so the ball doesn't deviate much, a penalty/foul can still be awarded."
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New Premier League rule changes set to impact the 2024/25 season
Then, according to Times Sport - The PGMOL have said that the offense of holding (e.g. blocking and/or obstructing) will be penalized more stringently in set-piece situations, when an attacking player is trying to stop the movement of an opponent, in the Premier League next season.
This will come as good news for Spurs and Spurs fans, as one of the, and perhaps the only, weakness of Guglielmo Vicario last season. He came under much criticism for how he handled set pieces last season. Others said he was being unfairly obstructed, and some fans were somewhere in between.
Whether he was at fault or not, this news is objectively a plus for Ange Postecoglu's side as they should in theory concede a number of goals fewer from set-pieces than they did last season.
Whilst Spurs still have work to do regardless on set-pieces, this will undoubtedly help - with the sort of situation, that has now been removed, costing Spurs numerous times last season, most notably their FA Cup status and all three points at Goodison Park within a week of each other.
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