Football Law is a new, independent site about the laws, money and stories of football. This page explains where our information comes from, how we label what we publish, and what we do when we get something wrong.
Who We Are
Football Law is independent. No club, league, governing body, agent or betting company owns or directs what we publish. We are a young site, and we would rather show you our method than make claims about ourselves. The standards on this page apply to every rules explainer, results page, transfer story and feature we publish.
How We Explain the Laws of the Game
Our rules coverage is based on the current Laws of the Game published by IFAB, the body that writes and maintains football’s laws. IFAB revises the Laws every year, and changes normally take effect on 1 July. Some competitions adopt them a little earlier or later, depending on when their season starts.
When we explain a rule, we:
- Work from the current edition of the Laws, not from memory, commentary or older versions.
- Say which Law we mean, such as Law 11 for offside or Law 12 for fouls and misconduct.
- Separate what the Law says from how referees tend to apply it, and tell you which one we are describing.
- Update our explainers when a new edition changes the wording or the intent of a Law.
Opinion has a place on this site. When a piece argues that a decision was wrong or a Law should change, we mark it as analysis or opinion so it reads differently from a plain explanation.
Competition Regulations
Many questions fans ask are not answered by the Laws of the Game at all. Squad registration, suspensions, tiebreakers, extra time, the number of substitutes and financial rules often come from a competition’s own regulations.
For those topics we use the official regulations published by the relevant competition or governing body. We name the competition and the season the rules apply to, because regulations differ between leagues and change from one season to the next.
Fixtures, Results and Tables
Our fixtures, results, live scores and league tables come from a licensed football data provider. This data is updated throughout the day, including during matches.
A few points to keep in mind:
- Live data can lag. During a match there may be a short delay before a goal, card or substitution appears.
- Official decisions come first. If a result is changed after the final whistle by a competition ruling, an awarded match or a points deduction, the official decision is the correct record. Our tables follow it once the change goes through.
- Errors get fixed. If you spot a wrong score, scorer or table position, tell us and we will check it against official sources.
Transfer Stories: CONFIRMED and RUMOR
Transfer coverage is where football reporting gets messy, so every transfer story we publish carries one of two labels.
CONFIRMED
We use CONFIRMED only when the club or the player has announced the move. That means an official club statement, an official club channel, or a public announcement by the player. A strong report from a trusted journalist is still not confirmation. “Agreed in principle” is not confirmation either, and neither is a medical.
RUMOR
Everything else is labelled RUMOR, and we name the reporter or outlet the story comes from. We also tell you how much weight the source deserves, using plain language such as:
- Official: a club, league or governing body statement.
- Proven reporter: a named journalist or outlet with a strong record on this type of story.
- Community or data-led: information drawn from public filings, registration databases or similar records, with a note on what it can and cannot prove.
- Anonymous or mixed record: an unnamed source, or a source whose past claims have been hit and miss.
Our wording follows the grading. A claim from a proven reporter might be written as “reported by”. A claim from an anonymous account will be written as something like “an anonymous account with a mixed track record claims”. When a rumor becomes an announced deal, we change the label to CONFIRMED. When it collapses, we say so.
Leaks and Anonymous Sources
Sometimes stories begin with leaked documents or anonymous claims. We report on what reputable outlets say was revealed, and we name those outlets. We do not host, share or point readers to leaked files, and we do not explain how to get hold of them.
We never try to identify anonymous sources or leakers, and we do not speculate about who they might be.
Money Stories
Our coverage of club finances, wages, transfer fees and financial rules is based on published sources wherever possible. These include club accounts, official regulatory decisions, governing body reports and named reporting.
Transfer fees and salaries are often reported but rarely confirmed. When a figure has not been officially disclosed, we say it is reported and name who reported it. When outlets give different figures, we tell you that too, instead of choosing the most dramatic one.
Stories From the Game’s History
Features about football’s past, including famous cases, scandals and disputes, rely on public records, official rulings and published reporting. We do not target private individuals, and we keep the focus on events that are already part of the public record.
No Betting Tips
Football Law does not publish betting tips, predictions sold as picks, or odds promotions. We do not promote crypto tokens or coins, including any connected to insiders or leakers. Our tables, results and analysis are there to inform. They are not a recommendation to place a bet.
Independence and Labelling
Nobody pays to appear in our coverage or to change it. If we ever publish sponsored or commercial content, it will be clearly labelled as such and kept separate from editorial coverage.
Corrections
We will make mistakes. When we do, we fix them openly.
- Factual errors such as a wrong date, score, name, fee or rule reference are corrected as soon as we confirm them.
- Significant corrections that change the meaning of a story are noted on the page, with a short explanation of what changed.
- Minor fixes like typos and formatting are corrected without a note.
- Outdated information such as rules explainers overtaken by a new edition of the Laws is updated, and the page shows that it has been revised.
If you believe something on Football Law is inaccurate, please contact us through the options listed on the site. Tell us the page and the specific claim, and include a source if you have one. Every report is checked against official or primary sources before we change anything.
Changes to This Policy
As Football Law grows, this policy may be updated. When our methods change in a meaningful way, we will update this page to reflect them.