As the new men’s A-League season gets underway, administrators have shared changes to the regulations for the men’s and women’s competitions.
Changes will impact the way league tables are calculated.
Video Assistant Referee (VAR) technology will not be used for the women’s competition.
The leagues will continue to seek ways to improve player safety through concussion protocols, and cooling breaks.
Ladder sorting rules
In the off-season prior to season 2023/24, the APL increased its ladder sorting rules from a 5-step to an 11-step criteria to reduce the chance of clubs being tied at the end of the regular season – as part of this certain criteria were also reordered.
Following further consultation this off-season with clubs and fans via the FRG, the top three criteria have been updated ahead of season 2024/25, with the order of the remaining eight separators remaining unchanged from last season.
If two or more Clubs are level on points accumulated, the following 11-step criteria will be applied, in order, until all clubs can be separated and ranked:
1. Highest goal difference (last season ranked second)
2. Highest number of goals scored (last season ranked third)
3. Total number of wins (last season ranked first)
4. Highest number of points accumulated in matches between the clubs concerned;
5. Highest goal difference in matches between the clubs concerned;
6. Lowest number of fair play points accumulated;
7. Away goals difference (being the number of goals scored by the club in away matches minus the number of goals scored against the club in away matches);
8. Away goals per away match;
9. Home goals difference (being the number of goals scored by the club in home matches minus the number of goals scored against the club in home matches);
10. Home goals for per home match; and
11. Toss of a coin (tie of two clubs) or drawing of lots (tie of three or more clubs).
Clubs in the Isuzu UTE A-League Men will have three byes in season 2024/25. The APL has also confirmed today there will be no points allocated to teams for byes.
Video Assistant Referee (VAR)
VAR will again be utilised in all Isuzu UTE A-League Men regular season and final series matches in season 2024/25.
The implications of VAR are significant in terms of venue infrastructure, TV production and technology and are not feasible for the Ninja A-League Women as it stands.
The APL regularly reviews all operational elements of the game in line with global standards, and this includes VAR, and this will continue to be a topic under discussion in seasons to come.
Concussion policy
Following a trial period, the International Football Association Board (IFAB) implemented a permanent Concussion Substitutes Protocol on 1 July 2024.
This protocol is currently in place in the Australia Cup and the 2024/25 AFC Club Competitions, and will be used across the forthcoming Isuzu UTE A-League Men and Ninja A-League Women seasons.
The permanent Concussion Substitutes Protocol, is a hybrid of the two trial protocols, and permits one concussion substitution per team, and one additional substitute per team.
An additional permanent concussion substitution occurs when a player who has an actual or suspected concussion is substituted and takes no further part in the match.
This substitution does not count as one of the ‘normal’ permitted substitutions or substitution opportunities.
The principles of the permanent Concussion Substitutes Protocol include:
1. Each team is permitted to use a maximum of one ‘concussion substitute’ in a match.
2. A ‘concussion substitution’ may be made regardless of the number of substitutes already used.
3. When a ‘concussion substitute’ is used, the opposing team then has the option to use an ‘additional substitute’ for any reason, and also receive one ‘additional substitution opportunity’.
4. In the Ninja A-League Women, where the number of named substitutes is the same as the maximum number of ‘normal substitutes’ that can be used, the ‘concussion substitute’ can be a player who has previously been substituted and may be used at any time, regardless of the number of substitutes already used.
Heat policy: cooling breaks
With reference to IFAB Protocols, ‘cooling breaks’ – previously referred to as ‘drinks breaks’ – can be extended from 90 to up to 180 seconds for season 2024/25, with players now able to leave the field of play to seek shade during the break, take on fluid and other heat management strategies in order to mitigate exposure to heat (for example, use of wet towels or ice vests).
In accordance with the APL Heat Policy, ‘cooling breaks’ can be implemented if the Ambient temperature is measured at 31 degrees celsius or higher and/or when the Wet Bulb Globe temperature is measured at 26 degrees celsius or higher prior to kick-off.
The number and length of ‘cooling breaks’ per half will be determined by the Match Commissioner in consultation with Team Doctors and Match Officials before the start of the game.
Following a successful trial last season, the ‘Summer Period’ has also been extended by a month in 2024/25 and will run from early December through to the end of March. During the ‘Summer Period’ there will be no 3pm kick off times, with all matches kicking off from 5pm local time, with the exception of a few matches due to time zones and broadcast commitments.
The APL Heat Policy, recognised as a conservative policy by international standards, also remains in place and is an important contributing factor in the scheduling process and match management throughout the season.
This story was first published on October 18, 2024.
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