The Premier League have introduced an immediate change to how ball boys and girls can return the ball to the field of play which will be effective immediately.
The ball assistants, as they are now known, have a crucial role in the multi-ball system that was introduced to the Premier League in 2022 to stop teams from time-wasting. But amid concerns over the home team gaining an unfair advantage from the system, a new rule has now been introduced.
As reported by the Daily Star, the new rule prevents the ball assistants from throwing the ball straight to players to take a quick throw-in or set-piece. Instead, the players are expected to retrieve the ball themselves from the nearest cone, with the assistants then replacing the ball when a cone is empty.
The new rule will also see four extra match balls added around the pitch to help it run smoothly, and try to give both the home and away teams the same chance to take quick throw-ins. The change is reported to be effective immediately, meaning that it may be noticed in Tottenham’s Premier League clash against Luton Town this afternoon (Saturday).
The change follows an incident earlier in the 2023/24 season in which Bernd Leno shoved a Bournemouth ball assistant at the Vitality Stadium after the Fulham goalkeeper ran to collect a ball from him. Leno hugged the assistant afterwards and apologised, and avoided any punishment from the FA.
Tottenham have previously benefitted from the old rules in the Champions League. Under the guidance of Jose Mourinho, the ball boy showed quick thinking by getting the ball to Serge Aurier to take a quick throw-in which led to Harry Kane’s crucial equaliser in the 4-2 Champions League win over Olympiakos back in 2019. With the new rules coming in, that Kane goal would not have been possible.
