PL ball boys, girls to stop returning balls directly to players

Premier League ball boys and girls have been informed to stop returning balls to players following the introduction of a rule change designed to keep away from touchline clashes and to forestall handing the house group an unfair benefit.

Sources have informed ESPN that the change isn’t a direct consequence of the incident on the finish of Coventry City’s latest FA Cup quarterfinal win in opposition to Wolves, when the Championship membership’s supervisor Mark Robins was criticised by Wolves boss Gary O’Neil for confronting a ball-boy who delayed returning the ball to a participant within the closing phases of the sport.

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Fulham goalkeeper Bernd Leno was additionally concerned in a conflict with a ball boy through the Premier League sport in opposition to Bournemouth on the Vitality Stadium in December.

With the earlier system of ball assistants getting used to acquire and return balls to players, the Premier League has now made the change amid considerations that the system may very well be utilized by the house group on the drawback of their opponents.

An modification to Rule L.35 of the Premier League Handbook, which covers the multi-ball system, implies that players should now declare the ball from pitchside cones when it goes out of play.

The rule now states that “Ball Assistants are only allowed to retrieve match balls and replace them on the vacant cones and are not permitted to return a ball directly to a player.”

In order to assist velocity up the sport and keep away from time-wasting, 14 balls — seven on either side — will now be out there together with pitch, a rise of 4 from the earlier system.

Ball assistants will likely be required to return a ball to a vacant cone when it goes out of play and make sure that they aren’t positioned subsequent to the ball cones.

The Premier League has acknowledged that ball assistants should sit behind pitchside promoting boards the place doable.