RECENTLY, I mentioned there have been more than 100 changes to the Laws of the Game in two years.

There has been some unease among those in refereeing that too much is being done too quickly, but that has not deterred the International FA Board, who are responsible for the Laws, as they have introduced 50 more changes.

To be fair, a. good number of these are in respect of the VAR system in readiness for the World Cup in Russia this summer, but others come under the heading ‘who would have thought otherwise?’.

One of these concerns biting.

Regular readers might recall my recent comment that spitting was the only direct free-kick offence that was also automatically a sending off.

Now biting has been added to this, but surely every referee in the world would consider that biting someone, is violent conduct and send them off anyway. Another such alteration is that at a throw-in, the thrower must stand facing the field of play.

This means they can’t take the throw-in kneeling or sitting down.

I suppose someone somewhere has tried to do this.

The law also now says where two separate cautionable offences are committed, even in close proximity, they should result in two cautions.

That has always been the case, but now it’s deemed necessary to put it in writing.

There is a rather obscure offence that has been altered.

It now says a direct free-kick is awarded if a player throws an object at the ball, opponent or match official or makes contact with the ball with a hand-held object. Previously this was included as handball, but it is now a separate offence as before it didn’t include the goalkeeper, who cannot be penalised in his own penalty area for handball.

A fourth substitute can now be used in cup ties extra time if the rules of the competition allow.

Lots more alterations, including slogans on players shirts are nothing really major, but all have to be assimilated by referees.