A new rule has been introduced for the 2016 Copa America that will give referees the chance to award a penalty against a player who uses foul or abusive language toward them.
The new regulation is seen as a major step in an attempt to eradicate disrespect toward officials in football, with the award of a spot kick seen as the best way to deter players from abusing the referee.
Players, coaches, referees and fans will have to come to terms with the new rules coming in to force for the 2016 Copa America, including a fourth substitution and video replays.
The changes don’t end there though, as 93 amendments to the century-old competition are set to be approved, the South American Football Confederation, CONMEBOL, has announced.
The bid to say goodbye to ghost goals and doubtful decisions is underway as visual assistance is introduced.
The latest innovation in policy changes will be using video referees at crucial moments in a game, although the document does not provide the International Football Association Board (IFAB) with more information, so at this stage it is unclear exactly how regularly the video assistants will be used.
The fourth substitution rule is another new introduction, allowing teams facing extra-time to utilise their bench further if they have already made three changes.
“The IFAB decided to allow experimentation with a fourth substitution in extra-time in competitions with knockout stages in which extra-time is used to determine the winner of a match,” said the official document sent to all national association football confederations and FIFA.
Rule 12 states that the denial of a clear goal scoring opportunity will not be punished with a red card, but rather a yellow card will be issued, yet if the offense is evaluated and deemed a deliberate attempt to foul the opponent and not play the ball, the player will be sent off.
Chile go into the tournament as reigning champions, having defeated Argentina on penalties in last year’s final.