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Referees in England have been issued new guidance in an attempt to make football ‘a better product’.

According to the PA news agency, the PGMOL (Professional Game Match Officials Limited) is ‘committed’ to making the EFL ‘a better product’ and has issued updated guidance to officials to help them achieve this aim.

Referees have been advised to increase their threshold on fouls, clamp down on time wasting by players and to ensure that player behaviour ‘does not overstep the mark’.

Clamping down on time wasting is a particularly hot issue for referees this season as figures show that, on average, games last season saw less playing time than ever before.

Referees have been issued new guidance ahead of the start of the EFL season (Picture by Frank Reid)

Furthermore, teams will once again be allowed to use five substitutes but VAR will again not be in operation in the Championship, despite its implementation during last season’s playoff finals.

Sunderland kick-off their season with a home game against Coventry City at noon on Sunday, July 31.

New referee guidance set to impact games involving Sunderland, Middlesbrough, Sheffield United and co