4 new Premier League rule changes ahead of the 2023/24 season | OneFootball

One of football's greatest strengths is its willingness to adapt to the times and evolve as the years have gone by. For the most part, the sport is largely unrecognisable from the one that was first created over 150 years ago.

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There have been numerous rules brought into the game over the years with the intention to improve football and even now, in 2023, things are still being done to do just that.

As the Premier League season approaches, there will be four brand-new rules put in place, with each designed to eradicate a number of faults that currently exist within football and to just improve the sport as a whole for fans, players and officials.

the Mirror.

Offside

While this one isn't necessarily new and was implemented last season, it is officially in writing now, with the objective to make offside-based decisions easier for referees and VAR.

The new law states that "a player who is clearly offside should not become onside on every occasion when an opponent moves and touches the ball." This means that it's no longer a guarantee that a player will be deemed onside if the ball touched an opponent before him.

It's there to clear up any doubt about how to correctly officiate the offside rule, with a lot of uncertainty surrounding it last season, with no one really quite on the same page.

Unsporting behaviour

Starting with the upcoming season, players may now avoid a card, despite committing a foul, if the referee believes they made a deliberate attempt for the ball.

This will be a massive change, especially when it concerns the last man fouling a striker to prevent a goal-scoring opportunity. While historically that would almost always result in the defender being shown a straight red card, now they could go unpunished if the referee determines that they made an honest attempt to win the ball.

Goalkeeper sportsmanship

Goalkeepers have lost their x-factor for penalty shootouts this season, with new rules determining that they'll be punished if they attempt to distract an opposition player during a penalty shootout.

Emi Martinez is the biggest known culprit of this, with the Argentine's mind games during the World Cup final last year working a treat for his country. The rule means goalkeepers will now be disciplined if they try to delay the taking of a penalty or kick/touch the woodwork of their goal.

There's no mention of the dancing and flailing arms that numerous keepers have done to put off penalty takers in the past, though, with no finer example than Jerzy Dudek in the 2005 Champions League final.

Adding time for goal celebrations

Time-wasting has been a major issue in football over the years, and it's encouraging to see the sport working to eradicate the issue. Starting this season, time will be added to the end of a game for any time that is wasted by a team's prolonged goal celebrations.

This is a rule that makes a tonne of sense and will give the opposition side a fair enough chance and plenty of time to get on the scoreboard themselves. There have been a number of instances in the past where a team will score a winner with minutes left of the contest, before spending the next couple of minutes celebrating and effectively eliminating any chance of their opponents finding an equaliser as a result.