Overview

• Captains and head coaches must meet referees 70 minutes before kickoff for a handshake briefing in the officials’ room.
• Coaches are barred from sitting in the coaching zone during matches, with movement limited to standing or walking in the area.
• Goalkeepers may hold the ball for a maximum of eight seconds, with referees instructed to count down and raise an arm in the final five seconds.
• Cologne coach Lukas Kwasniok dismissed the prescriptions as “alles Kokolores” and said they disrupt preparation.
• Heidenheim’s Frank Schmidt said the 70‑minute appointment collides with his team talk, after early enforcement already led to a warning for Kwasniok in Regensburg.