Players cannot wear dangerous equipment or jewellery.

How officials check equipment

1. Inspect players before the match and substitutes before they enter.
2. Check the compulsory equipment: shirt with sleeves, shorts, socks, shinguards, and footwear.
3. Check that teams, goalkeepers, and match officials can be distinguished by colour.
4. Remove jewellery and deal with any dangerous or unauthorised item.
5. If a problem is found during play, decide whether play can continue until the next stoppage or whether safety requires immediate action.
6. Before a player returns after correcting equipment, a match official must check it and the referee must give permission to re-enter.

The basic player equipment is required

A football player must wear a shirt with sleeves, shorts, socks, shinguards, and footwear. Goalkeepers may wear tracksuit bottoms, but the Laws of the Game do not require goalkeeper gloves.

Shinguards must be made of suitable material, be an appropriate size to provide reasonable protection, and be covered by the socks. The player is responsible for the size and suitability of the shinguards, while match officials check that shinguards are worn and covered.

Jewellery is not allowed

Necklaces, rings, bracelets, earrings, leather bands, rubber bands, and similar jewellery are forbidden. The player must remove them. Taping over jewellery is not a permitted workaround.

This is a safety rule, not a style rule. A small item can still catch, cut, or injure another player. The referee does not have to wait for contact or injury before requiring it to be removed.

Accessories are judged by safety

Law 4 treats jewellery and accessories differently. Jewellery must be removed. Non-dangerous accessories can be permitted if they are safely and securely covered, but dangerous items must be removed rather than taped or hidden.

That distinction matters for items such as medical or protective accessories. A competition or referee may still require a practical safety solution before the player is allowed to play.

Soft protective equipment can be legal

Non-dangerous protective equipment is allowed when it is made from soft, lightweight padded material. Common examples include gloves, approved headgear, facemasks, knee or arm protectors, goalkeepers' caps, and sports spectacles.

The key test is not whether the item gives a player protection; protective gear is allowed. The question is whether it is safe for the player wearing it and for opponents.

Teams and goalkeepers must be distinguishable

The two teams must wear colours that distinguish them from each other and from the match officials. Each goalkeeper must also wear colours that distinguish them from the other players and match officials.

If both goalkeepers have the same shirt colour and neither has another shirt, the referee allows the match to be played. That exception avoids cancelling a match for a goalkeeper-colour clash that does not confuse ordinary play.

Visible layers have colour rules

Tape or material applied over socks must be the same colour as the part of the sock it covers. Undershirts must either match the main colour of the shirt sleeve or exactly replicate the sleeve pattern. Undershorts or tights must match the main colour of the shorts or the lowest part of the shorts, and players on the same team must use the same colour.

These details matter because referees and assistants need to identify teams quickly, especially during tackles, restarts, and close decisions.

A lost boot or shinguard does not always stop play

If a player accidentally loses footwear or a shinguard, they must replace it as soon as possible and no later than when the ball next goes out of play. If the player plays the ball or scores before that next stoppage, the goal or play is not automatically cancelled just because the equipment was lost accidentally.

This is different from a player deliberately playing without required equipment or refusing an instruction to correct it.

Players cannot use communication devices

Players, substitutes, substituted players, and sent-off players cannot wear or use electronic or communication equipment, except where electronic performance and tracking systems are allowed. Team officials may use small mobile or handheld communication equipment only for player welfare, safety, tactical, or coaching reasons.

Where wearable tracking technology is used in official competitions, the competition organiser is responsible for making sure it is safe and meets the required standards.

Political, religious, and personal messages are restricted

Equipment must not carry political, religious, or personal slogans, statements, or images. Players also must not reveal undergarments with those messages or with advertising other than the manufacturer's logo.

Permitted names, numbers, team crests, competition details, and approved campaign or integrity messages depend on the competition rules and governing-body regulations. Disputes about messages are best resolved before the match rather than during play.

Play does not always have to stop immediately

For an equipment offence, the referee does not always need to stop play. The player can be instructed to leave the field at the next stoppage to correct the problem, unless safety requires quicker action or the item must be removed before the player participates.

A player who refuses to comply, wears the item again, or re-enters without the referee's permission can be cautioned. If play is stopped because a player re-entered without permission, the restart is an indirect free kick from where the ball was unless the player interfered with play; if there was interference, the restart is a direct free kick or penalty kick from the place of interference.

Misunderstandings to avoid

• "It is fine if it is taped" is wrong for jewellery. Jewellery must be removed.
• "Small earrings do not matter" is wrong. Size does not make jewellery legal.
• "Shinguard size is only the referee's problem" is too simple. Officials check that shinguards are worn and covered, but players are responsible for choosing suitable protection.
• "A lost boot cancels a goal" is wrong when the boot was lost accidentally and the player acts before the next stoppage.
• "All protective gear is banned" is wrong. Soft, lightweight, non-dangerous protective gear can be allowed.

Source material

• IFAB Law 4 - The Players' Equipment
• IFAB Law 3 - The Players
• IFAB Law 12 - Fouls and Misconduct
• IFAB Laws of the Game