Law Four of the Laws of the Game — The Players’ Equipment — states that a player must not use equipment or wear anything that is dangerous to him or herself or another player, including any kind of jewellery.

Therefore, players are permitted to wear sports glasses, sports goggles, sports sunglasses or protective headgear provided that, in the opinion of the referee, they pose no danger to the player wearing them or other players.

The decision to allow a player wearing glasses or protective headgear to participate in a match ultimately remains with the referee, as per the Laws of the Game (Law 4 – The Player’s Equipment). If the referee has concerns with the safety of the glasses or protective headgear, the referee has the authority to prevent a player from participating.

In the MWFA Playing Rules at J5 Equipment:

  1. c) Players may wear protective headgear, that has been individually approved and authorised by the MWFA, in conjunction with the MWFRA. Players ID Cards photo must include the approved headgear.
  2. d) Players may wear sports glasses, that have been individually approved and authorised by the MWFA, in conjunction with the MWFRA. Players ID Cards photo must include the approved glasses.

These MWFA Playing Rules apply to all age groups.

To wear sports glasses or protective headgear in MWFA matches, players must have their sports glasses or protective headgear approved by the MWFRA Disciplinary Committee Liaison Officer (DCLO) – please contact at [email protected]. The MWFA then requires that the player’s photo ID includes the approved glasses or protective headgear. For age groups for which players do not have players’ photo IDs, the MWFA advises that the player should be able to show the MWFRA’s written approval if called upon to do so.

For sports glasses to be approved by the MWFRA, the following two conditions must be met:

  1. Hard surfaces of the glasses must be wholly plastic. This includes the frames, lenses and arms. Plastic is the safest material available for frames and lenses. Some exceptions can be made, such as glasses with arms wrapped in foam, but these exceptions must be physically inspected.
  2. The glasses, when worn during play, must be firmly secured to the head. This takes the form of a band around the back of the head, such as elastic bands found on swimming and ski goggles. This is required so that in the event of medium to heavy challenges in play, particularly in the air, the glasses will remain firmly secured to the head and do not fall off. If the glasses were to fall off, this presents a significant safety issue for both the wearer and other players on the field.

The MWFRA is aware that proper sports glasses (professionally made for that purpose with polycarbonate frames and lenses and elastic bands) can be costly.

Therefore, the MWFRA does not expect that all players who require sports glasses will have those types of glasses, and home made ad hoc solutions that satisfy the two conditions above will be acceptable.

To have sports glasses approved, players should take two close up photos of the glasses by themselves (angles from the front and side) and two photos of themselves wearing the glasses (angles from the front and the side) and then email those photos to the DCLO.

The DCLO will then consider the safety of the glasses, and if satisfactory, directly advise the MWFA that the glasses have been approved. If the glasses are not satisfactory, then the DCLO will contact you directly and advise of any additional actions that are required.

To have protective headgear approved, the same processes apply – i.e. provide two close up photos of the protective headgear by itself (angles from the front and side) and two photos of the player wearing the protective headgear (angles from the front and the side) for the MWFRA’s assessment and approval/non-approval.

The DCLO is contactable via email at [email protected]

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