A COUPLE of weeks ago, I wrote about a change to the Laws of the Game which affected referees rather than players.

This week I would like to look at another change, which although in Law 4, Players Equipment, is really intended for coaches.

I found the wording difficult to work out, so I took the opportunity to contact David Elleray, who will be remembered as a Premier League referee, but who is now Technical Director of the IFAB, for clarification.

Players at the higher levels, sometime wear heart monitors, which coaches can read in the dugout and use for health or safety reasons.

This was increased this season to say electronic equipment could also be used for tactical/coaching purposes, but only with small, mobile, hand held equipment.

These could include, for example, microphone, headphone, ear-piece, mobile/smartphone, smartwatch, tablet, laptop.

The reason given for this change was as it was impossible to prevent communication to and from the technical area, it is reasonable to have an exchange of information relating to coaching/tactics.

Did this mean, I asked Elleray, that with the mention of communication from the technical area and ear-pieces, coaches could use the microphones to talk direct to players.

Although earrings were forbidden, could we see players wearing ear-pieces? Definitely not was his reply.

However, he didn’t tell me what it actually meant and my attention was drawn to an ‘exclusive’ article in The Times newspaper.

This said coaches will now be able to view the game in progress on-line, in the dugout and can, for instance, show it to substitutes about to come on.

A definition with which Elleray agreed.

The Law also says any coach who uses unauthorised equipment or who behaves in an inappropriate manner will be dismissed from the technical area.

This is obviously to prevent a repetition of behaviour such as Jose Mourinho’s during his time at Chelsea, when he charged up and down the touch line waiving his laptop at the referee, claiming it showed he had made a mistake.