Only one person may give instructions; every bench occupant must behave responsibly.

The ruleset and version used here

This page applies the IFAB Laws of the Game 2026/27, effective from 1 July 2026, principally Laws 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 9 and 12. It is the international baseline for association football, not a FIFA tournament bench manual, national association handbook or league accreditation guide.

IFAB Circular 32 allowed a competition that started before 1 July 2026 to introduce the changes earlier or defer them no later than the start of its next competition. Circular 33 added an optional 2026/27 sending-off provision for team officials who instigate a player protest. For an actual match, identify the edition adopted by the competition and then check its regulations for bench numbers, credentials, warm-up locations and any adopted options.

It is a defined stadium bench area, not a universal rectangle

IFAB Law 1.9 says the technical area relates to stadium matches with a designated sitting area. It should extend 1 m (1 yd) on either side of that seating and up to 1 m (1 yd) from the touchline, and markings should define it. The wording is “should”: those dimensions describe the standard layout, while Law 12 separately governs occupant conduct.

The competition rules determine the number of permitted occupants. Law 1 does not create one global bench limit, and it does not by itself decide which analysts, medical staff or other support roles a particular competition will accredit.

Names and roles come from the official team list

The IFAB glossary defines a team official as a non-player listed on the official team list, such as a coach, physiotherapist or doctor. Law 1 also places substitutes and substituted players in the technical-area group, but they retain their own status under the Laws; “bench occupant” and “team official” are not interchangeable labels for every disciplinary purpose.

Occupants must be identified before the match in accordance with the competition rules. A person not listed as a player, substitute or team official is an outside agent under Law 3.7, which can change the restart if that person enters and interferes with play.

Only one person at a time may convey tactical instructions

Law 1.9 does not reserve this role exclusively for the head coach, but it authorises only one person at a time to convey tactical instructions from the technical area. The person giving them must still behave responsibly and remain within the area except in a permitted special circumstance.

Giving tactical instructions is not automatically dissent. The line is crossed when the conduct becomes a listed offence—for example public protest at a match official's decision, repeated failure to respect the area, inflammatory behaviour, interference or offensive, insulting or abusive language or actions.

Purpose, frequency and effect change the sanction

Law 1.9 requires occupants to remain within the technical area except in special circumstances, such as a physiotherapist or doctor entering the field with the referee's permission to assess an injured player. Law 12 then grades unauthorised departures:

• Usually a warning: occasionally leaving without another offence, or entering the field respectfully and non-confrontationally.
• Caution: clearly or persistently failing to respect the area, or entering the opponent's technical area deliberately but non-confrontationally.
• Sending-off: deliberately leaving to dissent or act provocatively, entering the opponent's area aggressively or confrontationally, or entering the field to confront a match official or interfere.

Merely crossing a painted line and charging onto the field to confront someone are therefore not the same offence.

How to analyse a bench incident

1. Identify the person. Team official, substitute, substituted player and outside agent can have different provisions.
2. Check the ball's status. An offence while the ball is out usually leaves the existing restart unchanged.
3. Name the act. Words, gestures, area breach, field entry, physical conduct, object throwing and interference are not one category.
4. Assess seriousness and repetition. Decide between no action, warning, yellow card and red card under Law 12.4.
5. Ask whether play was affected. Law 3 and Law 12 give direct-free-kick or penalty-kick restarts for specified interference; other stoppages can require an indirect free kick or dropped ball.
6. Consider advantage. Do not stop a beneficial attack merely to deal immediately with bench dissent or non-interfering entry.
7. Apply competition rules. Confirm bench eligibility and any 2026/27 competition options, then report misconduct as required.

A warning is for specified lower-level conduct, not a guaranteed first step

Under IFAB Law 12.4, entering the field respectfully, failing to cooperate with a match official, minor disagreement with a decision and occasionally leaving the area without another offence should usually result in a warning. The lists are not exhaustive, and the referee retains judgment within the Laws.

Repeated or blatant warning-level behaviour should escalate to a caution or sending-off. A serious first incident can receive a card immediately; “the coach must be warned first” is not an IFAB rule.

Cautions cover dissent, persistence and disruptive conduct

Law 12.4 says cautionable conduct includes clearly or persistently disregarding the technical-area limits, delaying the team's own restart, non-confrontational entry into the opposing technical area, and dissent by word or action. Dissent examples include throwing or kicking a drinks bottle and sarcastic clapping that clearly disrespects a match official.

Other listed examples include entering the referee review area (RRA), excessive or persistent card gestures, excessively making the VAR “TV” signal, provocative or inflammatory conduct, persistent unacceptable behaviour and showing a lack of respect for the game. Two cautions to the same person in the match result in a sending-off.

Serious bench misconduct brings a sending-off

Sending-off offences include delaying the opposing team's restart; leaving the area to dissent or provoke; aggressive entry into the opponent's area; deliberately throwing or kicking an object onto the field; entering the field to confront a match official or interfere; entering the video operation room (VOR); physical or aggressive behaviour; offensive, insulting or abusive language or actions; a second caution; misuse of electronic or communication equipment; and violent conduct.

The 2026/27 Laws also let competitions adopt a sending-off option where a team official instructs or encourages players to leave the field in protest at a referee's decision, even if the players do not leave. Because IFAB labels this a competition option, it must not be treated as adopted everywhere without checking the appointed rules.

Removal and replacement are separate questions

Law 5.3 authorises the referee to send a team official from the field and its immediate surrounds, including the technical area. A team does not lose an on-field player merely because a coach is sent off; the Laws treat the official's removal and the number of players as separate matters. Competition disciplinary rules decide later suspension and administrative consequences.

There is one safety exception: a medical team official who commits a sending-off offence may remain if the team has no other medical person available, so that person can act if a player requires medical attention. The red-card decision is not cancelled.

The senior coach receives the sanction only in the defined bench case

If an offence is committed by someone from the technical area—whether a substitute, substituted player, sent-off player or team official—and the offender cannot be identified, Law 12.4 assigns the sanction to the senior team coach present in that area. This prevents an unidentified bench group from avoiding a sanction.

It does not make the senior coach automatically liable for every offence connected with the team. IFAB's official FAQ confirms that this rule does not transfer an unidentified offence committed by a player on the field; that incident is reported to the appropriate authorities.

Entry, interference and discipline are three separate tests

Under Law 3.7, if a team official enters the field, the referee stops play only if there is interference, has the person removed when play stops and takes appropriate disciplinary action. Non-interfering entry does not require an immediate whistle, although the entry can still be warning-, caution- or sending-off conduct under Law 12.

If play is stopped because a team official interferes, the restart is a direct free kick from the position of the interference, or a penalty kick if it occurred inside that official's team's penalty area. If an attacking team official interferes with play before their team scores and the referee discovers it before the restart, Law 3.9 requires the goal to be disallowed.

The card does not automatically choose the restart

• Ball already out: restart according to the previous decision. A coach's dissent during a throw-in stoppage does not turn the throw-in into a free kick.
• Verbal offence while the ball is in play: all verbal offences are indirect-free-kick offences. For dissent shouted from the technical area, IFAB's FAQ places the kick on the touchline nearest the offence; advantage may be used if stopping would disadvantage the opponents.
• Team official interferes on the field: direct free kick at the interference, or a penalty kick if that point is inside the official's own team's penalty area.
• An object thrown or kicked onto the field interferes: direct free kick or penalty kick where it interfered with play or struck or would have struck the opponent, match official or ball.
• Misconduct outside the field with no prescribed free-kick offence: if the referee stops play solely to deal with it, the restart can be a dropped ball under Law 8. Entering the opponent's technical area is an IFAB example.

Stopping a ball that is clearly leaving can mean an indirect free kick without a card

Law 9.2 covers a narrow case that viewers often misread. If a team official touches the ball while it is still in play but clearly leaving the field, without intending to interfere unfairly, the opponents receive an indirect free kick and there is no disciplinary sanction.

The decisive facts are that the ball was still in play, was clearly leaving and there was no unfair intent. This does not protect deliberate interference with a live contest, and a separate persistent departure from the technical area can still be cautionable.

Small devices are allowed for limited purposes

Law 4.4 permits team officials to use small, mobile electronic or communication equipment when it directly concerns player welfare or safety, or tactical or coaching reasons. It is not a blanket ban on tablets, headsets or phones in the technical area.

Using unauthorised equipment, or behaving inappropriately as a result of its use, is a sending-off offence. Competition rules can add operational requirements for data systems and accreditation, so permitted purpose under Law 4 does not override the competition's equipment controls.

The fourth official assists; the referee decides

Law 6.2 assigns the fourth official several duties, including supervising substitutions and informing the referee of irresponsible behaviour by any technical-area occupant. Other on-field match officials may also report serious misconduct they saw. They operate under the referee's direction, and the final match decision remains the referee's.

VAR is not a general appeal system for bench warnings or yellow cards. In a match using VAR, assistance is limited to the protocol's reviewable categories, which include red-card incidents and mistaken identity. Only the referee can initiate a review and make the final decision. Excessively showing the “TV” signal or entering the RRA is cautionable; entering the VOR is a sending-off offence.

A coach repeatedly steps beyond the line

Situation: the coach briefly leaves the marked area once, returns when asked, then repeatedly stands outside it later without confronting anyone.

IFAB 2026/27 ruling: the first occasional departure should usually be warned; the later clear or persistent failure is cautionable. Decisive fact: repetition moves the conduct from Law 12's usual warning category into its caution category.

Dissent is shouted during an opponent's attack

Situation: while the ball is in play, a coach angrily demands a free kick from the technical area but does not use offensive, insulting or abusive language. The opponents retain a promising attack.

IFAB 2026/27 ruling: the referee may apply advantage, then caution the coach for dissent at the next stoppage. If play is stopped for the verbal offence, the restart is an indirect free kick on the nearest point of the touchline. Decisive fact: this is verbal dissent, not physical interference.

A coach enters the opponent's technical area

Situation: with the ball in play elsewhere, a coach deliberately walks into the opponent's technical area but remains non-confrontational. The referee stops play to deal with it.

IFAB 2026/27 ruling: caution the coach and restart with a dropped ball under Law 8. Decisive fact: Law 12 makes the non-confrontational entry cautionable, but the conduct does not itself create a direct- or indirect-free-kick offence. Aggressive or confrontational entry would instead be a sending-off offence.

A coach stops a ball just before it crosses the line

Situation: a ball is plainly going out for a throw-in, no player can reach it, and a coach stops it centimetres before it wholly crosses the touchline to speed up the restart.

IFAB 2026/27 ruling: award the opponents an indirect free kick where the coach touched the still-live ball, with no card for the touch itself. Decisive fact: Law 9.2 treats a non-unfair touch of a ball clearly leaving the field differently from deliberate interference with play.

An unidentified bottle comes from the bench

Situation: someone in the technical area deliberately throws a bottle onto the field, but the officials cannot identify who did it. The bottle interferes with play.

IFAB 2026/27 ruling: the senior team coach present receives the red-card sanction. Restart with a direct free kick where the bottle interfered, or a penalty kick if that point is inside the offending team's penalty area. Decisive facts: deliberate object throwing onto the field is a sending-off offence, the object interfered, and the offender came from the technical area but could not be identified.

Authority continues through penalties, but cautions reset for the shoot-out

The referee can act against team officials during half-time, extra time and penalties (penalty shoot-out). Under Law 10.3, however, warnings and cautions issued during the match are not carried forward into the shoot-out. A team official cautioned in extra time and again during the shoot-out is therefore not sent off for two cautions, although both are reported.

A direct sending-off offence during the shoot-out still brings a red card. This reset is limited to the disciplinary count for the shoot-out; it does not erase the reports or later competition discipline.

Six claims to avoid

• “Every competition allows the same bench size.” Law 1 leaves occupant numbers to the competition rules.
• “Any step outside the area is a yellow card.” An occasional departure without another offence should usually be warned; persistence or a more serious purpose changes the outcome.
• “The coach is entitled to one warning.” Serious or blatant behaviour can be carded immediately.
• “A red card to a coach reduces the team to ten players.” It removes the official, not an on-field player.
• “Any bench card changes the restart.” Ball status, the type and location of the offence and interference decide the restart.
• “Phones and tablets are always forbidden.” Law 4 permits limited welfare, safety, tactical and coaching use, subject to its equipment rules and competition controls.

Governing-body sources and effective version

• The IFAB — Laws of the Game 2026/27, English single-page edition (effective 1 July 2026)
• The IFAB — Law 1.9, The technical area (2026/27)
• The IFAB — Laws 3.7–3.9, extra persons and goals (2026/27)
• The IFAB — Law 4.4, electronic communication (2026/27)
• The IFAB — Law 5.3, referee powers and team officials (2026/27)
• The IFAB — Law 6.2, fourth official (2026/27)
• The IFAB — Law 9.2, boundary-ball contact by a team official (2026/27)
• The IFAB — Law 10.3, team officials during penalties (2026/27)
• The IFAB — Laws 12.4–12.5, team-official discipline and restarts (2026/27)
• The IFAB — Football Terms glossary, “Team official” and “Technical area” (2026/27)
• The IFAB — Video Assistant Referee protocol (2026/27)
• The IFAB — Circular 32, 2026/27 decisions and implementation date (31 March 2026)
• The IFAB — Circular 33, additional 2026/27 Law changes (19 May 2026)

Checked against the English IFAB Laws of the Game 2026/27 and Circulars 32 and 33. The English text is authoritative. Competition rules supplement the baseline by setting technical-area capacity, accreditation and adopted options; no competition-specific bench limit is assumed here.