GENEVA, AP:

FIFA has tightened player eligibility rules for the World Cup after eight African qualifying matches were defaulted for the 2014 tournament.

FIFA regulations for the 2018 qualifying programme now require each player to produce a national passport the day before kick-off to the governing body's match delegate.

"A player without a valid passport shall not be entitled to play," the new rule states. "Identity cards or other supporting official documents shall not be accepted."

In the 2014 World Cup qualifying groups, ineligible players proved the biggest administrative problem for FIFA. Seven different African teams fielded players who did not have valid clearance, forcing FIFA to award 3-0 wins to their opponents. The penalised teams were Burkina Faso, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Liberia, Sudan and Togo.

Africa was the only one of FIFA's six continental confederations which had issues with federations failing to get proper FIFA clearance for players.

Meanwhile, FIFA now requires matches abandoned during play to be restarted at a later date with the same line-ups from the point the clock stopped. Previously, a full 90-minute replay was ordered.

FIFA also abolished the maximum fine limit of 1 million Swiss francs (US$1.09 million) for national federations if a team which qualifies to play in Russia is withdrawn within 30 days of the opening match or during the tournament.

innovations

Two innovations for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil are formalised in the current competition.

Goal-line technology can be used in qualifying matches, if both teams give written consent to FIFA, and cooling breaks can be ordered by referees.

FIFA inserted new details on hotel arrangements. Opposing teams are now prohibited from staying at the same hotel as each other or the official FIFA delegation.