The 2026/27 Premier League season will bring several changes to how matches are restarted, substitutions are handled, injured players return to the field and certain red-card decisions are reviewed by VAR. Alongside those mandatory changes to the Laws of the Game, the Premier League has also published its ‘Football Principles’ and ‘Refereeing Points of Emphasis’ for the new campaign, setting out how referees and VAR officials are expected to approach a range of situations.The new Premier League season begins on Friday, August 21, when reigning champions Arsenal host newly promoted Coventry City. The changes are intended in part to address time-wasting, disruption and delays while also giving referees and supporters clearer guidance on how particular decisions will be handled.The Premier League is also not adopting every optional change available under the International Football Association Board’s Laws of the Game, meaning some measures seen at the 2026 FIFA World Cup will not be introduced in England.
Injured players will have to leave for one minute
One of the most noticeable changes concerns players who receive treatment or assessment for an injury on the pitch.“Players who receive on-field injury treatment/assessment will be required to leave for at least one minute.”That increases the existing Premier League period from 30 seconds to one minute. The change is designed to discourage players from going down injured in order to interrupt the game or consume time, while also encouraging a quicker return to play once the player has been assessed.The new wording applies when play is stopped for an injury and the player goes off the field.
Five seconds for delayed throw-ins and goal-kicks
The Premier League will also introduce a new time limit for restarts that are being deliberately delayed.There will be a “five-second” countdown and restart reversal for clearly delaying throw-ins and goal-kicks.If the five-second limit is exceeded, the restart changes hands: the throw-in is awarded to the opposing team, while the opposing team are awarded a corner when a goal-kick has been excessively delayed.The measure is another attempt to reduce situations in which players deliberately take too long to restart play.
Substituted players face a 10-second limit
Players leaving the pitch after being substituted will also face a specific time limit.There will be a “10-second” time limit for players to leave the field when substituted. If the player does not leave within that period, the substitute cannot enter immediately.Instead, “the substitute cannot enter until the first stoppage after one minute has elapsed.”The intention is again to prevent substitutions from becoming an opportunity to run down the clock, particularly late in matches when players may deliberately take their time leaving the field
VAR can intervene over a second yellow
VAR’s role will also change in relation to second yellow cards.The Premier League will allow “A VAR review for when second yellow cards are awarded to a player resulting in a red card”, but the intervention is limited to situations in which a player has actually been awarded a second yellow card and sent off.The stated purpose is to prevent a team being reduced to 10 men because the referee has clearly made a mistake in awarding the second yellow card. It does not allow VAR to review a first yellow card simply because it might later become relevant to a second booking.The clarification is specifically for “only for when players are awarded a clearly wrong second yellow card, rather than a potential second yellow card.”
Goalkeeper injuries will also be subject to a trial
Alongside those four mandatory Law changes, the Premier League will trial a separate measure involving goalkeeper injuries during the 2026/27 season.If play is stopped because of a goalkeeper injury, the manager or head coach will have to nominate an outfield player to leave the pitch immediately. That nominated player must remain off the field for at least one minute after play restarts.Pro Ref, the organisation that manages Premier League match officials, said the trial “is designed to address occasions where goalkeeper injuries have been used to disrupt momentum, slow the game down or create opportunities for tactical instruction”.It is therefore a trial rather than one of the four mandatory Law changes being introduced across the competition.
What are the Premier League’s ‘Football Principles’?
The Premier League has also updated its ‘Football Principles’, a framework developed through consultation with fans, clubs and match officials and agreed between the League and Professional Game Referees (Pro Ref).These principles help explain why Premier League matches can sometimes be officiated differently from games in European competitions, including the league’s higher threshold for fouls and its approach to VAR intervention.For 2026/27, the Premier League says it will:
- Maintain high threshold for penalising challenges – not every contact is a foul – while protecting player safety.
- Maintain a high threshold for VAR intervention – “Referee’s Call” will stand unless, in the opinion of the VAR, based upon the evidence readily available, that a call is a clear and obvious error.
- More efficient application of VAR, including the improved use of semi-automated offside technology, to reduce VAR delays.
- Continue to focus on in-stadium VAR experience.
- Maintain stronger measures to reduce time-wasting and disruption tactics.
- Continue a robust approach to improving participant behaviour on-field and in the technical area.
The Premier League’s stated aim is to make VAR more efficient while maintaining the principle that the referee’s original decision should stand unless there is evidence of a clear and obvious error.
The ‘Refereeing Points of Emphasis’
The Premier League has separately identified areas where referees will place particular emphasis during matches.Those points include:
- Continue to deliver a “less is more” approach to penalising handball.
- Enhance recognition of holding offences on-field.
- Place a greater focus on challenges on goalkeepers where the attacking player clearly and unfairly impacts the ability of goalkeeper to move to ball.
- Deal proportionately when sanctioning hair-pulling through new guidance.
- Continue to deal robustly with clear actions intended to deceive the referee (simulation and embellishment).
The emphasis on goalkeeper challenges, holding, simulation and hair-pulling is intended to discourage players from exploiting areas where the laws can otherwise be difficult to apply consistently.
Which changes will not be introduced?
The Premier League is not adopting IFAB’s competition-optional laws for the 2026/27 campaign.That includes allowing VAR to review incorrectly awarded corners. The League is not opting to increase the VAR’s scope.Hydration breaks will also not become a new standard rule. The Premier League already has a protocol allowing drinks breaks in matches where the temperature exceeds 30 degrees Celsius at kick-off.The league will also retain its existing three-step discrimination protocol in stadiums for player-reported abuse rather than introducing the red-card protocol around players covering their mouths.Finally, the clarification concerning mistaken identity and yellow cards for diving will remain limited. A yellow card that is not a second yellow card can be reviewed to identify the player who committed the offence, but the offence itself cannot be reviewed or changed.Taken together, the changes mean the Premier League’s new season will place greater emphasis on keeping matches moving, limiting deliberate disruption and making VAR intervention more targeted, while leaving the referee’s authority and original decision at the centre of the officiating process.