February 20 – Arsene Wenger, FIFA’s new head of global development, appears to have spoken out prematurely about the need to tweak the offside rule sooner rather than later in order to get rid of the farcical situation surrounding a spate of VAR decisions.
During the recent Laureus Sports Awards ceremony in Berlin, Wenger said he favours players being ruled onside if any part of their body that can score a goal is behind or level with the relevant defender. “It is the time to do this quickly,” he said, preferably in time for Euro 2020 this summer.
The proposal would rebalance the game in favour of the attacker and has so far received widespread support from those within the game.
The idea is expected to be debated by the International Football Association Board (IFAB) meeting in Belfast next week but any chance of it made part of the game from June 1 and fast-tracked in time for Euro 2020 appears to have been scuppered due to further discussions being needed and approved.
FIFA have moved to clarify Wenger’s remarks while English FA officials have apparently said any proposed changes would not come into force until 2021 at the earliest.
In a FIFA statement, Wenger backtracked on his previous remarks by saying: “ I am well aware that any rules changes are subject to a standard approval process, which include discussions with stakeholders and potential test phases, within the scope of the established IFAB framework.”
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