How do the 2026/27 Laws of the Game work in senior Betway Premiership matches, and is VAR used? Offside, handball, yellow and red cards, the new ten-second and five-second rules, what VAR can review, concussion substitutes and cards for coaches.
Not under the current rules. The NSL Handbook (as adopted on 2 December 2025), which governs the 2026/27 Betway Premiership, provides for four match officials at every match: a referee, two assistant referees and a fourth official (Rule 20.1). It makes no provision for a video assistant referee.
Under IFAB Law 5.2 (2026/27), VAR, goal-line technology and semi-automated offside technology may be used only if the competition provides for them, and match officials may not use video replays unofficially. The referee's decisions during the match are final, and PSL clubs cannot protest against them (NSL Handbook Rule 51.2).
Under the IFAB VAR protocol (2026/27), a video assistant referee may help the referee only for a "clear and obvious error" or a "serious missed incident" in these categories:
VAR cannot recommend a review of a missed second yellow card, and the final decision is always the referee's. A player who enters the referee review area is cautioned; one who enters the video operation room is sent off.
The main IFAB changes for 2026/27 that fans will notice:
Some new measures are competition options, such as a red card for covering the mouth while insulting an opponent, or for leaving the field in protest.
Under Law 11.1 (2026/27), being in an offside position is not an offence on its own. A player is in an offside position if:
The hands and arms of all players, including goalkeepers, are not counted. For offside, the arm starts at the bottom of the armpit.
A player is not in an offside position if level with the second-last opponent or the last two opponents.
Whether the player is then penalised depends on whether they become involved in active play when a team-mate plays or touches the ball.
Only if, at the moment a team-mate plays or touches the ball, the player is in an offside position and becomes involved in active play (Law 11.2, 2026/27) by:
Not offside:
The restart is an indirect free kick to the defending team where the offence happened.
Under Law 12.1 (2026/27), the arm starts at the bottom of the armpit, and not every touch of the hand or arm is an offence. It is a handball offence if a player:
A handball offence is a direct free kick, or a penalty if committed by a defender inside their own penalty area. A goalkeeper may handle in their own penalty area, but outside it has the same restrictions as any other player.
Link to offside: a player in an offside position who receives the ball from an opponent's deliberate handball is not penalised for offside (Law 11).
Not every handball is a card. Under Law 12.4 (2026/27):
Yellow card when a player:
Red card when a player:
New for 2026/27: if the referee plays advantage after a defender's handball and a goal is scored, there is no card.
Law 12 (2026/27) grades challenges such as kicking, tripping, pushing, charging, jumping at or tackling an opponent:
| How it was done | Meaning | Sanction |
|---|---|---|
| Careless | lack of attention or consideration | free kick, no card |
| Reckless | disregard for the danger to the opponent | yellow card |
| Excessive force | endangers the opponent's safety | red card |
A player is also sent off for:
New for 2026/27: if the referee plays advantage after a DOGSO foul and a goal is scored, the offender gets no card.
Under Law 12.4 (2026/27), a player is cautioned for:
Goal celebrations earn a yellow card, even if the goal is disallowed, for removing the shirt or covering the head with it, wearing a mask, climbing the perimeter fence, or acting in a provocative way. Two yellow cards in the same match mean a red card.
These are the Laws' main tools against time-wasting in 2026/27:
Goalkeeper holding the ball (Laws 12 and 17): if a goalkeeper controls the ball in their hands inside the penalty area for more than eight seconds, the opponents get a corner kick. The referee counts down the last five seconds with a raised hand.
Throw-ins (Law 15, new): if a team is deliberately delaying a throw-in, the referee whistles and starts a visual five-second countdown. If the throw isn't taken in time, it is awarded to the other team.
Goal kicks (Law 16, new): the same five-second countdown; if the goal kick isn't taken in time, the opponents get a corner kick.
In both countdowns, the player is only cautioned if they then excessively delay the opponents' restart, because losing the restart is treated as enough punishment.
Additional permanent concussion substitutions are an option in the IFAB Laws (Law 3.2) that a competition can choose to adopt; they apply only where the competition's rules allow them. Where they are used:
Separately, Law 5 treats a head injury such as concussion as a severe injury that can be assessed on the field without the player having to sit out the new one-minute period.
Yes. Under Law 12 (2026/27), team officials in the technical area can be warned, cautioned or sent off:
If the referee can't identify who in the technical area committed the offence, the senior coach present gets the card. In the PSL, a coach sent off is suspended under the same rule as players (2 matches for a first dismissal) and may not enter the perimeter or tunnel while suspended (NSL Handbook Rule 53.7).