BELFAST: Football’s lawmaking International Board has commissioned more research into concussion at its annual business meeting in Belfast.

IFAB is also undertaking further studies of the worldwide introduction of video assistant referees.

A statement said:

The meeting . . . received positive feedback on the law changes that came into effect on 1 June 2019 and agreed some resulting clarifications. 

Feedback from The IFAB Advisory Panels meeting on 23 October, set the scene for a detailed discussion on concussion concluding with an agreement to appoint an expert group. This group’s focus will be to identify possible options for in-game assessment and management of suspected concussion, taking into consideration all potential resulting consequences, with player safety at the forefront.

The group will consist of medical sports specialists and football experts and members will be announced in due course.

In addition, the Board discussed further steps to be taken in relation to the play fair! initiative including measures to improve player behaviour and increasing respect.

The meeting ended with a detailed update on the worldwide use of VARs and in particular, the growing demand for more immediate information about the referee’s final decisions after a VAR-review.

The members agreed to explore different communication options to improve the understanding of the decision-making process.

The 2020 Annual General Meeting of The IFAB will be held in Northern Ireland on Saturday 29 February 2020 and will ultimately decide which of today’s proposals and recommendations will become part of the Laws of the Game as from 1 June 2020. 

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