May 24 – FIFA president Gianni Infantino has personally backed overhauling the offside rule by doing away with hairsbreadth decisions that have caused so much anguish among players and fans alike.
FIFA is currently trialling a new rule in China and the United States that would give the advantage to strikers and stop what Infantino called being offside “by a nose” because of controversial VAR calls.
“The offside rule is definitely one of the laws we need to look at,” said Infantino. “Why? Because if you look at the history of the rule, it was developed in order to foster attacking football.”
Infantino has been a staunch supporter of VAR but admits the system is sometimes flawed when it comes to offside.
“VAR has created a situation which maybe we were not expecting. Before VAR, referees were told that in cases of doubt give the advantage to the attacker.
“With VAR you don’t have doubts any more. Suddenly the term ‘marginal offside’ has become important such as someone’s nose being offside. We have to see if we need to change this.”
Former Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger, now working as FIFA’s head of global football development, is supervising the on-going trials. Although no date has been set for implementation, Infantino said there was a clear need for improvement and clarification.
“The current rule says that if part of your body with which you can score is over the line of the second to last defender then it’s offside,” said Infantino.
“We are now testing the opposite. In other words, if any part of your body with which you can score is in line, then it’s not offside.”
Infantino cited a statistic in the Premier League last season whereby half of the average four offsides per game would have been deemed on-side under what is being dubbed Wenger’s Law. “Perhaps a few more goals would have scored as a result,” he said.
However, Infantino has ruled out ditching VAR, saying the controversial system does far more good than harm.
“More than 100 competitions worldwide use VAR. It is definitely bringing more justice and more transparency. The really big mistakes are being corrected.”
Contact the writer of this story at moc.l1713303329labto1713303329ofdlr1713303329owedi1713303329sni@w1713303329ahsra1713303329w.wer1713303329dna1713303329