Please see below a summary of regulation amendments for the 2017/18 season (for Step 5 and below), the full list of amendments can be found by downloading the document below:

• All automatic suspensions (5/10/15 yellow cards, red cards) will now start seven days after the offence rather than the current fourteen days.
• Suspensions arising from misconduct charges will now start three days after the hearing, rather than the current fourteen days. Any intention to appeal therefore needs to be submitted with those three days.
• The minimum threshold for an appeal against a misconduct decision has been removed, meaning that any decision relating to misconduct charges can be appealed to The FA, regardless of the sanction imposed.

Clubs are also reminded of the following:

• Automatic suspensions will start seven days after the offence regardless of the receipt of a report from the referee. It is the responsibility of the clubs to keep a record of their yellow/red cards and suspended players even if the referee hasn’t reported the offence yet. If a referee hasn’t reported a card, then please let the Sussex County FA know as a matter of urgency so they can be chased. The Sussex County FA will charge players and clubs for playing whilst suspended even if the referee has not reported the offence, as the suspension automatically starts after seven days.
• Claims of mistaken identity must be submitted to the Sussex County FA within three working days of the match.
• The intention to claim for wrongful dismissal (excluding S6 and S7) must be submitted to the Sussex County FA within two working days of the match, with the evidence submitted by the fourth working day.
• Cautions must be acknowledged via the Whole Game System within fourteen days.
• Red Cards must be acknowledged via Whole Game System within seven days.
• Clubs and Leagues should not deal with misconduct themselves; it should be reported to the Sussex County FA immediately for further investigation.
• Football Debt Recovery claims must be submitted to the Sussex County FA within one hundred and twelve days of the debt being incurred, including details of the debt and steps taken already to recover it. Failure to do so prevents the Sussex County FA from assisting the clubs/leagues.

More information on the changes and existing regulations will be contained in the 2017/18 Discipline Handbook, which will be available soon.

If you have any queries on these updates or amends, or any other Disciplinary matters, please contact Football Services:

Football Services
T: 01903 753547
E: Info@SussexFA.com