Referees

Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane said he was disappointed that he was only asked about the referee's decisions after his side earned a 2-1 victory at Real Sociedad on Sunday to climb above Barcelona and top LaLiga.

The day before the game, Zidane had been forced to defend his team against a suggestion from Barça defender Gerard Piqué that decisions were going Madrid's way after their 3-0 win over Valencia, in which Rodrigo had an opening goal ruled out.

The Premier League has taken the wise decision to follow the Bundesliga by allowing five substitutions per game and expanding the number of players on the bench from seven to nine. The league confirmed this temporary change on Thursday. Here's why this is a great thing.

For the remainder of the 2019/20 season, Premier League clubs will now be able to make substitutes instead of

ROME — The head of the Italian Referees Association (AIA) hopes match officials will be treated with greater respect if and when Serie A returns following the coronavirus stoppage.

"I hope this virus will teach us to change our attitudes and have a bit more respect," AIA head Marcello Nicchi told Radio Sportiva in an interview.

"Was the coronavirus needed to say that players should keep their distance from the referee when they protest? It's an ethical issue that I hope everyone will assimilate."

FIFA announced an emergency, temporary change to the substitution rule on Friday, allowing teams five replacements per match, instead of the regular three. The change was a quick reaction to expected fixture congestion as leagues attempt to complete seasons after months-long delays caused by the novel coronavirus pandemic. While a fifth option off the bench will certainly help players, the FIFA substitutions rule change highlights how little shits world football’s governing body gives about head injuries.

FIFA has proposed that teams should be allowed to make up to five substitutions per match, instead of the usual three, as a temporary measure to help cope with potential fixture congestion in the aftermath of the novel coronavirus outbreak. 

Football has been at a standstill since mid-March but many leagues and federations are still hoping to complete the season but to do so they would have to cram fixtures into a shorter period than usual once play re-starts.

MANCHESTER, England — When football's law-making body IFAB met last week, a decision that could massively impact the game at all levels passed barely noticed as the debate over VAR technology hogged the limelight.

Officials of IFAB, the International Football Association Board, made up of the four British home nations and FIFA, agreed to conduct a year-long review into the offside law, which is expected to end with a proposal for a new rule.

The implications were not lost on Mark Bullingham, chief executive of England's Football Association.