Into the Book - Laws of The Game - Law 3

This series by CRO will dive into the IFAB Laws of The Game to cover all 17 Laws that IFAB has for soccer. We’re going to cover them in a way that simplifies them and gives you a chance to learn the laws and what we find important in each Law. While we expect referees to read through the full laws we know that sometimes understanding them and how to apply them on your own is difficult. We will tell go through how to implement certain parts of the Laws and where certain Laws can be adapted to for local Youth and Adult Leagues and Events. We hope this series helps you easily learn the Laws one week at a time while we take a deep dive Into The Book with us.

Law 3 - The Players

Law 3 covers the players in the match. This includes how many are needed to play, substitutes and their procedure for entering the match, changing Goal Keepers, what to do when too many players are on the field and a lot more.

This is a Law that referees don’t study enough but can have a big impact on the game.

Number of Players

• Two teams with a maximum of 11 players each

  • Match cannot be played if 1 team has fewer than 7 players. This includes to start or continue playing if a team goes below 7 during the match.

• One player must be a Goal Keeper

• If a competition is using rosters all named starters and substitutes must be listed on the roster before kick off

Substitutes & Substitution procedure

• Number of Substitutes - 5 for official FIFA competitions

• Number of Substitution Moments - 3 for official FIFA competitions

  • Extra time - any unused substitutions or moments may be used in Extra time

• The referee must be informed before any substitution is made - important - Teams cannot make a substitution without the referees permission

• If a team wants to change their Goal Keeper they must inform the referee and it can only be done at a stoppage

Pop Quiz with an answer! - Can a player be sent off (aka given a Red Card) before the match has started? - YES, as soon as the referee arrive for prematch inspection they have authority over the game, players and coaches

A player who is sent off:

• Before submission of the team list cannot be named on the team list in any capacity

• After being named on the team list and before kick-off may be replaced by a named substitute, who cannot be replaced; the number of substitutions the team can make is not reduced

• After the kick-off cannot be replaced

A named substitute who is sent off before or after the kick-off may not be replaced.

What to do if an extra person enters the field

Only stop play if they interfere with play stop, if they do not you can continue to play.

If the interference was by a Coach / Team Official, Substitute, substituted player or player who has been sent off (Given a Red Card). You will Start with a Direct Free Kick of Penalty Kick, if it was inside the Penalty Area, to the opposing team.

If it was an outside agent stop play. Have them removed and play restarts with the team who was last in possession of the ball.
Outside Agent is anyone not listed on a team roster. Fan, Security, or any other person not listed on the roster.

What to do if a Goal is scored an extra person on the field?

The goal does not count and must be disallowed if…

• If the person was part of the team that scored the goal

• An outside Agent interferes with play

The Goal Counts If

• The extra person was part of the team that got scored on

• The outside agent interferes AND the interference does not prevent a defending player playing the ball.

You must recognize all this before the kick off is taken. Once the kick off is taken you cannot change anything!

The Team Captain - The team captain has no special status or privileges but has a degree of responsibility for the behavior of the team.

Misconduct in Law 3

Any player who enters the field of play without the referee’s permission is cautioned for Entering the Field of play without Permission.
If a player Enters the field of play without permission and commits any other act which should be punished with a Caution (Yellow Card) then they should be shown both Yellow Cards and Sent Off for receiving two cautions in the same match.

Coaches / Team officials may also be given misconduct which we will cover in our blog post about Law 12.

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Remember, the Laws of the Game are detailed and have much more information than we have put into this section. We put this here so referees can get a quick view of what we see as the highlights of the Law. We recommend referees fully review the LOTG to know the them best - https://www.theifab.com/