Royal Spanish Football Federation Disciplinary Code

Did you know that Spanish soccer changed some of its regulations? Learn more in our post today.

As 2018 came to a close, the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) announced some changes. This involved their Disciplinary Code and General Regulations in their 28th memo. Let’s look at them in our post today.

The changes have been approved by the delegated committee of the RFEF. In addition, they’ve been ratified by the directive committee of the Spanish Sports Authority. Keep reading to learn about the changes in the Spanish Soccer Disciplinary Code and what they imply.

New RFEF Spanish Disciplinary Code: what’s changed?

The biggest change that the new Disciplinary Code brings is the incorporation of Article 56.9. The Article deals with compliance for sanctions in situations with concomitant licenses. This is under the previously set conditions of the General Regulations.

Furthermore, the article derives from the modification of the 9th clause of Article 26 of the General Regulations of the Royal Spanish Football Federation. The body approved it in September 2018.

The modification states that the hearings must apply the disciplinary procedures. The disciplinary procedures respond to the infractions committed during matches and comprise of the acts or faults.

The newly approved modification of clause 9 is as follows:

General Regulations of the RFEF: which Spanish articles saw changes?

In addition to Article 26, the Royal Spanish Football Federation made other changes in their Regulations as well. These changes mainly revolved around licenses, the Technical Committee of Referees (CTA) and women’s soccer.

First, the CTA made changes in the Articles 29-38. These changes revolve around the restructuring the committee itself. In addition, there were also changes in Articles 167, 169-179 and 217. This introduces Video Assistant Referees who reaffirm the competencies of the CTA.

Women’s soccer

In regards to changes in women’s soccer, the first modification lies in Article 100. It concerns the denomination of soccer clubs. The new text allows First and Second Division women’s soccer teams to use sponsor names for advertising purposes.

As for the new changes regarding the incorporation of women players in soccer, we want to highlight Article 190. The changes in Article 190 presents the new First Division B league in Women’s Soccer.

In regards to licenses, another important change can be found in Article 121 of RFEF’s General Regulations. According to the new Article, professional licenses are now also obligatory for soccer players. This relates to those, who, at the moment of signing a license, are affiliated or active in the Spanish Social Security system. The players are under the responsibility of the club that represents them.

Article 161 states the obligations of coaches that want to work in Spain but have trained elsewhere. According to said Article, coaches who have studied in a foreign country need to hold a diploma that’s equivalent to a national diploma.

Aside from a valid diploma, coaches must have also held a coaching position on a team of the highest national category with affiliation to FIFA. Only with these requirements can aspiring coaches lead a professional Spanish team.

Want to learn more about the RFEF’s Disciplinary Code?

If you want to dig even deeper into the changes in the General Regulations and Disciplinary Code, check out these links [in Spanish]. New General Regulations of the RFEF  and  New Disciplinary Code of the Spanish Federation.