A significant update to global football’s law-making body was approved on Monday at a Zurich meeting involving a high-level FA delegation.
Chairman Greg Dyke and General Secretary Alex Horne travelled to the Swiss city to support the International Football Association Board (IFAB) reforms as part of FIFA’s wider reform process.
Two new advisory panels have been introduced to assist the IFAB in considering amendments to the Laws of the Game, leading to a more proactive approach to law-making.
Alex Horne, pictured at the IFAB meeting in 2013.
A Football panel and a Technical panel will be established from across the football family, including players, coaches, technical and referee experts. They will hear submissions and presentations from other relevant experts depending on the items up for discussion.
The composition of the new panels will be approved at the next IFAB annual general meeting which is due to take place in Zurich on 1 March 2014.
Crucially, the composition of the IFAB will remain unchanged. The four British Associations will continue to have one vote each on the law-making body while FIFA will retain its four votes, with a 75 per cent majority required for a change.
A decision has also been made to register the IFAB as an autonomous organisation, under the Swiss Civil Code. The IFAB will be supported by an executive support office based in Zurich who will report to and act on behalf of the Board of Directors, will deal with all IFAB administrative matters and be its main point of contact.
Finally, in order to enhance the independence and to improve the understanding of the laws of the game and provide even greater transparency, the IFAB will launch its own website. All documents will be available, current topics will be updated and reasoning for decisions will be published.
Horne said: “It was a short meeting but an important one to set the structure of the IFAB going forward. We have worked hard on trying to improve the way IFAB works to be more proactive and transparent, but it is also right we protect the valuable function it has performed for 127 years in overseeing the laws of the game.
“Having greater input from across football will be hugely beneficial, including contributions from players, coaches and referees. It will ensure IFAB is better informed when it comes to making decisions for the good of the game across the world.”
