The 2019 rule change also provided for a dropped ball restart for certain situations involving the ball touching a match official. Previously, the match officials were considered part of the field and play continued if the ball touched an official regardless of the result, unless the ball went out of play for a different reason such as going out of bounds. The rule change allows the referee to stop play and award a dropped ball if either team gains an advantage from the ball touching an official. The official explanation for this change was that "t can be very unfair if a team gains an advantage or scores a goal because the ball has hit a match official, especially the referee".