There’s literally no other description or qualification, except the blanket provision that it can’t be dangerous. What does the law say about footwear? That it must be ‘footwear’. You’ll have noticed that the Hoolahan Rule mentions the players’ footwear.
…in all his glory performing that rarest of actions, providing a Premier League assist for Cameron Jerome.
‘A player whose footwear or shinguard is lost accidentally must replace it as soon as possible and no later than when the ball next goes out of play if before doing so the player plays the ball and/or scores a goal, the goal is awarded.’ Since we’ve named the Kiraly Rule, let’s go one further with the Hoolahan Rule: But if tracksuit bottoms are so useful, why are they so rare? This provision is presumably for cold weather and the pitches it affects, since the keeper spends a lot of time standing still and a fair amount of time diving. Remember when Cameroon were blackmailed docked six points in the WC qualifiers by FIFA for wearing sleeveless shirts? FIFA eventually relented after the entire population of Cameroon came crawling, of course.Īnother mandatory item of gear is shorts, but the keeper can wear tracksuit bottoms. The compulsory equipment includes ‘a shirt with sleeves’. Why is he being allowed on the pitch in the first place? I suppose it covers Alas-type incidents, where maybe they put it back on while no one’s watching. Let’s say you do the inspection, and the player either can’t or doesn’t want to remove those chic amethyst earrings. Then it says the referee must order them to ‘leave the field of play at the next stoppage if the player is unable or unwilling to comply’. If the player/substitute is wearing something unauthorised, the referee must order them to remove it. It says the players must be ‘inspected’ (let your imagination run free) before the match begins, and substitutes inspected before they come on. The USA were already ahead and undoubtedly would have won anyway, but it was a classic ploy.īut there’s something very odd about the jewellery provision. Alas got the standard punishment, another yellow, and was sent off in the 27 th minute. So Arena waited until Alas already had a yellow card, and then pointed out the offending decoration.
Someone on the USA side noticed it and told coach Bruce Arena. Denis Alas, a Salvadoran midfielder, either forgot or didn’t want to take the field without his necklace. Jewellery is naturally forbidden, so I get to tell the story of a 2006 WC qualifier between the USA and El Salvador. (If only it said something about tattoos.) Law 04 –The Players’ Equipment is a brief but pithy entry that lays out what you have to wear, can wear, and can’t wear even as a fashion statement, especially if it’s ‘dangerous’.