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Baselayers: Meeting changing IFAB rules
Team Colours tells SGB Sports about a ruling from association football’s law-making governing body demanding baselayers must match a team’s kit colour.
Recent rule changes by the International FA Board (IFAB) regarding permitted clothing managed to grab headlines this month, but mainly for the ban of the now famous snood. The change comes into effect in the middle of summer, but despite most attention going to the dangerous scarf worn by Premier League stars, additional rules made alongside it have deeper impacts at all levels of the game.
IFAB is made up of representatives from each of the English, Scottish, Welsh and Northern Ireland’s FAs, plus FIFA, the international governing body for football. Each UK association has one vote and FIFA has four. IFAB deliberations must be approved by three-quarters of the vote, which translates to at least six votes. FIFA's approval is necessary for any IFAB decision, but FIFA alone cannot change the laws of the game and requires the support of at least two of the UK members.
Despite versions of the rule being in place it has now been fully clarified that all football players’ undergarments, such as tights and the increasingly popular performance baselayers, must be matching in colour to a team’s kit. This was confirmed by FIFA president Sepp Blatter at IFAB’s 125th Annual General Meeting and takes effect from the professional leagues through to Sunday league.
This is a change that will affect teams and players, as well as sports retailers; the underlayers are generally popular in all seasons, predominantly for performance enhancement, and will need to become available in more colour options to suit the ruling.
For more of this article, see the digital version of SGB Sports April online at www.sgb-sports.com/digital
