New Rules to Be Piloted at 2019 SheBelieves Cup

CHICAGO (Feb. 27, 2019)— In preparation for the 2019 SheBelieves Cup and the 2019 Women’s World Cup in France, U.S. Soccer has received approval from the International Football Association Board (IFAB) to pilot three changes to the Laws of the Game during the upcoming tournament.

The 133rd Annual General Meeting (AGM) of The IFAB will be held in Aberdeen, Scotland on March 2, 2019. The changes outlined below will be on exhibition at the 2019 SheBelieves Cup and will be amongst other possible changes up for ratification on March 2.

• A player being substituted must leave the field of play at the nearest point on the boundary line.
• Yellow and red cards for misconduct can be issued to team officials.
• On a goal kick and a free kick for the defending team in their own penalty area, the ball is in play as soon as the kick is taken so a player – or opponent as long as they started outside the penalty or were not given the proper time to exit the penalty – can play the ball before it leaves the penalty area.

While additional changes are being proposed for ratification, U.S. Soccer requested and received approval for the experiments above during the 2019 SheBelieves Cup. All participating teams, coaching staffs and referees were informed and briefed in advance with regard to the pilot changes.