Key Premier League rules changes for the 2023/24 season including offside and goal celebrations

The new Premier League season is now just around the corner and with a fresh campaign comes a series of rules changes that players and fans will need to familiarise themselves with.

While the role of VAR remains the same, there will be some subtle differences due to IFAB, the International Football Association Board making a number of changes.

Let's take a closer look at these new rules and tweaks in regulations as football returns as reported by The Mirror:

One of the most significant changes this season is the clarification of the offside rule. The updated Laws of the game state that "a player who is clearly offside should not become onside on every occasion when an opponent moves and touches the ball."

Although this change was made last summer, it has now been officially incorporated into the Laws. The aim is to provide clarity regarding whether a defender deliberately played the ball or if it deflected off them. However, the wording of the rule remains open to interpretation by different match officials.

Starting in August, players can avoid receiving a card for unsporting behavior if the referee is certain they made a deliberate attempt to win the ball in a tackle. The exact definition of what constitutes unsporting behavior in this context is somewhat ambiguous.

Essentially, if a player concedes a penalty while attempting to play the ball, they will not be shown a red card if the match officials believe it was a genuine attempt to win the ball.

Goalkeepers will no longer be able to engage in mind games during penalty shootouts. The new rules state that they "must not behave in a way that unfairly distracts the kicker... [and] fails to show respect for the game and the opponent." This includes actions such as