Lausanne,
July 22, 2014: The International Hockey Federation (FIH) Executive Board has
approved several changes to the rules of indoor hockey following a proposal
from the Rules Committee. The majority of the changes are aimed at improving
gameplay and the experience for spectators, while others are clarifications and
tidying up of existing rules.
Most notably the number of times a team may substitute their
goalkeepers off the pitch will now be limited to two per game, as opposed to
the previous possibility for unlimited substitutions. The change addresses the
issue of multiple goalkeeper substitutions during matches, which were
detracting from the game and spectator experience. It also ensures that
goalkeeping skills continue to be an integral part of the game, while still
allowing teams to make tactical use of goalkeeper substitutions at suitable
points during any game.
A limit on the maximum length of a hockey stick will be introduced into the
rules for the first time, following the use of this requirement as a regulation
at the Rabobank Hockey World Cup in The
Hague last month. In recognition that goalkeepers were
swapping to longer sticks for shoot-outs, which was considered as being against
the spirit of the rules, all sticks must now be a maximum of 105cm long.
The breaking at a penalty corner regulation, which has been
successfully used at FIH tournaments, is introduced as a full rule. An attacker
who breaks into the circle early or any defender who crosses the back-line
early is sent beyond the centre-line. Special provisions apply if a goalkeeper
crosses the back-line early, with one of the other defenders being required to
go beyond the centre-line. The use of this regulation has seen a dramatic
decrease in the number of breaks, encouraging fair play and reducing the amount
of time spent on re-setting penalty corners.
Leandro Negre, FIH President, said the rule changes would
help drive the continued growth of the sport: “In all forms of the sport we
strive to create the most fair, entertaining and competitive environment possible,
with particular consideration for our increasingly global fan base. The changes
introduced embody these values and are aimed at improving the game at all
levels”
Rule Changes to Indoor Hockey 2015
The following are the changes that were recommended by the
FIH Rules Committee to, and approved by, the FIH Executive Board: -
i. Date of implementation: It was agreed that this should
remain as 1 January 2015.
ii. Terminology
i. Hit – to be amended to ‘Striking or ‘slapping’ the ball …’ with the guidance
from page 23 to be moved to this section
iii. Composition of team
i. Rule 2.3a – last paragraph of guidance to be changed from ‘If the goalkeeper
or player with goalkeeping privileges is suspended, the offending team plays
with one less player’ to ‘ … plays with one fewer player’
ii. Rule 2.3b – the change from 6 to 5 players has resulted in a tactical
re-think on the part of a lot of Indoor Coaches, whereby their teams will try
to attack with 5 field players and defend with 4 field players and a
goalkeeper. This has resulted in multiple goalkeeper substitutions during
matches, which has not been seen as an attractive aspect of Indoor Hockey.
In an effort to address this issue Rule 2.3f was adjusted,
with effect from 25 November 2013, such that goalkeepers needed to be
substituted (as all other players) within 3 metres of the centre-line. Whilst
this has had some effect, it has not had the desired effect, and with agreement
from the respective Continental Federations two trial goalkeeper substitution
experiments were set up to operate at the PanAm Indoor Cups in Montevideo (URU)
7-12 April 2014 and at the Men’s Indoor Asia Cup in Changhua (TPE) 16-22 June
2014.
Following consideration of the feedback from the trials and
a review of the information from the Rules questionnaires, the preferred route
is a limitation of two fully kitted GK substitutions off the pitch per match
(with allowances for injury and/or suspension) which would still permit teams
to make tactical use of these at suitable points in any match.
Rule 2.3b currently reads: -
There is no limit to the number of players who are permitted to be substituted
at the same time or to the number of times any player is permitted to
substitute or be substituted
A Mandatory Experimental Rule 2.3b will read: -
There is no limit to the number of players who are permitted to be substituted
at the same time or to the number of times any player is permitted to
substitute or be substituted, except that the number of times a team may
substitute their goalkeepers off the pitch is limited to a total of two per
match
Guidance:
If a team has used their full allocation of goalkeeper substitutions and their
goalkeeper is injured and incapable of continuing then, for safety reasons,
that team is allowed if it so wishes one further substitution onto the pitch of
another goalkeeper who is wearing full protective equipment. The substitution
of this replacement goalkeeper should take place in accordance with Rule 2.3g
and its guidance.
In the event that a goalkeeper receives a temporary suspension, their return to
the pitch following its completion does not count towards the total number of
goalkeeper substitutions, but only if they are replacing a player with
goalkeeping privileges or another field player. Should they return to the pitch
in place of another goalkeeper who is wearing full protective equipment, this
will count towards the total number of times a team may substitute off their
goalkeepers.
If a team has used their full allocation of goalkeeper substitutions and their
goalkeeper receives a temporary or permanent suspension then, for safety
reasons, that team is allowed if it so wishes one further substitution onto the
pitch of another goalkeeper who is wearing full protective equipment. The
substitution of this replacement goalkeeper should take place in accordance
with Rule 2.3g and its guidance.
iii. Rule 2.3d – the guidance to be adjusted from ‘one less
player’ to ‘one fewer player’
iv. Conduct of play: players
i. Rule 9.5 – the guidance regarding ‘slap’ hitting is to be
deleted and inserted in the terminology section.
ii. Rule 9.11 - Guidance to be adjusted from ‘The player
only commits an offence if they voluntarily use their hand, foot or body to
play the ball …’ to ‘The player only commits an offence if they gain an
advantage …’
iii. Rule 9.19 – greater emphasis to be placed in the guidance on intentional,
as compared to unintentional, trapping of the ball against the boards.
v. Penalties
i. Rule 12.1 - Guidance that ‘If awarding a penalty is not
an advantage to the team which did not break the Rules play must continue’ to
be deleted, since it does not add anything to the Rule
ii. Rule 12.4c – given that the Regulation concerning
Breaking the line at Penalty Corners will be adopted as a Rule, the requirement
that a penalty stroke is awarded ‘for defenders persistently crossing the
back-line before permitted during the taking of penalty corners’ will be
deleted. Breaking at Penalty Corners can now be managed using the new Rule,
noting that the penalty stroke provision was only very rarely invoked
iii. Rule 12.5 – the provision, if there is another offence
or misconduct before the awarded penalty has been taken, to progress a free
push by up to 5 metres is to be deleted. This has become redundant with the new
Free Push Rules and the ability to self-pass, whilst any other offence or
misconduct can be managed using the other provisions in Rules 12.5b, c and d,
and/or Rule 14 Personal penalties.
vi. Procedure for taking penalties
i. Rule 13.3h – this Rule that ‘until the ball has been
played, no attacker other than the one taking the push from the back-line is
permitted to enter the circle and no defender is permitted to cross the
centre-line or back-line’ is to be supplemented by the adoption of the Breaking
at a Penalty Corner Regulation as a Rule
ii. Rules 13.7b, 13.7c & 13.7d – to be adjusted by the
adoption of the Breaking at a Penalty Corner Regulation as a Rule
iii. Rule 13.10d - the
guidance that ‘if the player defending the stroke prevents a goal being scored
but moves either foot before the ball has been played, this player must be
warned (green card) and for any subsequent offence must be suspended (yellow
card)’ to be amended to ‘if the player defending the stroke prevents a goal
being scored but moves either foot before the ball has been played, this player
may be awarded a personal penalty and for any subsequent offence must be
suspended’.
vii. Personal penalties
i. Rule 14.1b – it was decided not to adopt the Regulation
that a green card indicates a temporary suspension of one minute as a Rule,
since it was considered that the green card as a warning is still important at
lower levels of the game. It will however remain as an FIH Tournament
Regulation
ii. Rules 14.1c and 14.1d – the guidance to be adjusted from
‘… one less player’ to ‘… one fewer player’.
viii. Umpiring signals
i. 4.6c Penalties – as a result of the deletion of Rule
12.5a and advancing a Free Push up to 5 metres, it follows that the signal
should also be deleted
ix. Field and Equipment Specifications
i. 2.18 Stick – in view of longer than normal sticks being
used by goalkeepers at Shoot-out competitions, the stick specification will now
include a maximum length provision, ‘the length of stick, as measured from the
top of the stick to the bottom of the head of the stick (line X in Figure 3 on
page 57 of the Rules of Indoor Hockey), shall not be more than 105cm’
A FIH Press release
