MLS officials will focus on four new points of emphasis in the 2017 season, Professional Referee Organization general manager Peter Walton said in a conference call with reporters Friday.
Walton said that MLS referees have been instructed to pay closer attention to holding and pushing in the penalty area on set pieces, acts of visual dissent, deliberate delaying of restarts, and persistent infringement.
He also outlined the changes to the Laws of the Game that will take effect in MLS for the first time this season. The International Football Association Board (IFAB), the body that decides on changes to the Laws of the Game, changed several of the sport’s rules last May.