Don puts indirect free kicks into touch

Referees have been told to drop indirect free-kicks in a second major move to provide attackers with an added edge and boost football's public appeal.

The latest directive from Premiership referees' boss Philip Don will be warmly welcomed by dead-ball specialists like David Beckham and follows a significant change to the interpretation of the offside rule.

Linesmen will be ordered not to flag unless they see daylight between a forward and the last defender.

Don has issued strict reminders to his select group of 24 professional officials after finding that a subtle change in the laws was not being implemented by many referees. 'There's no longer any offence called obstruction,' said Don, who discovered that some officials were even ignorant of FIFA's shift in emphasis.

Obstruction has been replaced by 'impeding' and where contact occurs under that category, referees have been instructed to make all free- kicks direct - with penalties awarded for such infringements in the area.

FIFA official Steve Bennett, who will referee Beckham's Manchester United in West Bromwich Albion's opening-day visit to Old Trafford, said: 'The law was not highlighted and a lot of people were unaware of it. Referees have been reminded obstruction is no longer in the rulebook.

'Virtually the only time now that you will see an indirect free-kick is when a player obstructs an opponent without making contact.'

The instruction is the latest part of a concerted FIFA campaign, starting with the rule forbidding goalkeepers from handling back passes, to speed up action and make the game even more entertaining.