Ruleside
One Law · Four answers

Where competitions differ

Some of the Laws of the Game are not rules. They are decisions the Laws hand to whoever runs the competition: how many substitutes may be named, whether goal line technology exists, whether a wrongly given corner can be taken back. So “what are the rules this season” has a different answer in each league, and the two halves of it are published in different places. This is the join. Every row cites the clause that creates the option. Every answer cites the competition’s own document.

13
decisions the Laws leave to the competition
4
competitions compared
39 of 52
answers sourced to a document
26
clauses cited
An empty cell is our gap, not the competition’s answer

Three different things can look like a blank and this page keeps them apart. Not taken means the competition published a sentence saying it does not do this, and the cell quotes it. Not statedmeans we hold the competition’s own regulations and they do not settle the question, which is a fact about a document rather than a claim about a league. Not sourced means we have not found the answer yet, and it says nothing at all. Open any filled cell to read the wording it rests on and to reach the document itself. Nothing here is a rating: a competition that uses goal line technology is not beating one that does not, so no answer on this page is coloured.

What the Laws leave open World Cup11 June to 19 July 2026 Premier League2026/27 season Champions League2026/27 season MLS2026 season
Substitutes usedHow many substitutes may a team use, and across how many stoppages?Up to five, and the number is set by FIFA, the confederation or the national football association rather than by the Laws. Where five are permitted, a team has a maximum of three substitution opportunities, and substitutions at half-time do not spend one.Law 3 · 2. Number of substitutions
Substitutes namedHow many substitutes may be named on the team sheet?The Laws set only a range and hand the number to the competition: from three to a maximum of fifteen. It is the widest gap on this page and the one nobody argues about.Law 3 · 2. Number of substitutions
Extra substitute in extra timeMay a team use one more substitute when a match goes to extra time?The competition rules must state whether it may. Where they do, the team also gains one additional substitution opportunity.Law 3 · 2. Number of substitutions
Not sourced
Concussion substitutionsMay a team make an extra permanent substitution for a concussion?A competition may allow it. The substitute is permanent, may be used whatever the number of substitutions already made, and the opposing team then receives an extra substitution of its own.Law 3 · Additional permanent concussion substitutionsGlossary · Concussion substitution
Not stated
Video assistant refereesIs VAR used?VAR is permitted only where the competition organiser has met the implementation requirements in the VAR Handbook and has written permission from FIFA. It is never automatic.Law 5 · 4. Video assistant referee (VAR)
VAR review of a wrong cornerCan VAR correct a corner kick that should never have been given?New for 2026/27, and the only reviewable category the protocol marks as a competition option: a clearly incorrectly awarded corner kick, if the decision can be changed immediately and without delaying the restart. A competition that has not opted in cannot have one corrected.Law 5 · 4. Video assistant referee (VAR)
Not stated
Not taken
Not stated
Not sourced
Goal line technologyIs goal line technology used?The Laws do not require it anywhere. Its use must be stipulated in the competition rules, which means a competition silent on it does not have it.Law 1 · 11. Goal line technology (GLT)
Not sourced
Half-time intervalHow long is half-time?Not exceeding fifteen minutes, and the competition rules must state the duration. It may be altered only with the referee's permission.Law 7 · 2. Half-time interval
Not sourcedNot sourced
Cooling and drinks breaksAre cooling or drinks breaks used, and who decides?Both are medical stoppages the competition rules permit. A drinks break should not exceed one minute; a cooling break runs ninety seconds to three minutes. The two are different things and the Laws keep them apart.Law 7 · 3. Allowance for time lostGlossary · ‘Cooling' breakGlossary · ‘Drinks' break
Not sourcedNot sourced
Deciding a drawn matchHow is a drawn match decided?Only where the competition rules require a winner, and then only three procedures are permitted: the away goals rule, two equal periods of extra time of not more than fifteen minutes each, and penalties. Any combination of them may be used, which is what lets a competition go straight to penalties.Law 10 · 2. Winning team
Playing surfaceMay a match be played on an artificial surface?Wholly natural, or wholly artificial if the competition rules permit, or a hybrid of the two where the competition rules permit that. All three are the competition's choice and none of them is the default.Law 1 · 1. Field surfaceNot sourced
Not taken
Not sourced
Who may sit on the benchHow many people may occupy the technical area?The number is defined by the competition rules, and the people in it must be identified before the start of the match in accordance with those rules. The Laws set no figure at all.Law 1 · 9. The technical area
Temporary dismissalsAre sin bins used?The referee has the power to dismiss a player temporarily where the competition rules permit. But the Laws confine the option itself to youth, veterans, disability and grassroots football, subject to the approval of the national FA, confederation or FIFA. No competition on this page could adopt it if it wanted to.Law 5 · 3. Powers and dutiesNotes and modifications · ProcedureNot available at this level, and the reason is in the Law rather than in any competition's rules.
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The documents

Every answer above is read out of one of these. They are the competitions’ own publications, so where one of them is wrong about itself, this page will be wrong with it.

FIFA World Cup 26

The tournament 35 of this site's 39 calls come from. Its regulations are the document those matches were played under.

Premier League 2026/27

Two documents: the Handbook carries the competition's Rules, the Pro Ref handbook carries what the referees are told.

UEFA Champions League 2026/27

Published as numbered articles rather than a single file, so each cell cites its article.

Major League Soccer 2026

The league publishes competition guidelines rather than a regulations PDF, so the cells cite its headed sections.