Would this be the end of marginal offside calls? We can but hope.
Arsene Wenger, currently FIFA’s Chief of Global Development, wants to overhaul the offside rule in order to prevent the countless, controversial offside calls we see almost every week as a result of VAR intervening.
He plans to do this by changing the wording of the law, so if any part of the attacking player’s body is onside, the player is onside. This marks a huge change from the current law, which rules a player offside if any part of their body they can score with is in an offside position, they are offside.
So, in practice, Patrick Bamford’s goal against Crystal Palace would stand.
This plan is expected to be put on the table at the annual business meeting of the law-making body Ifab on December 16.
FIFA President Infantino has appeared to endorse the idea, saying it would mean “no more ‘marginal offsides’, as we are seeing with VAR, because the player would really have to be in front of the defender.”
“The offside rule has evolved over the last 100 years,” he said. “Arsene and our head of refereeing, Pierluigi Collina, are debating if they can make it better and foster offensive football.
“The question is whether we should give more advantage to the attacking player, which is always how the rule has evolved. That would mean no more ‘marginal offsides’, as we are seeing with VAR, because the player would really have to be in front of the defender.
“I know that attackers and midfielders are very favourable to this, while goalkeepers and defenders have more worries. Ifab will be dealing with this later this month.”
The sooner this whole area of the game gets addressed by the powers-that-be, the better. We’ve had enough of little toe and finger-tip offsides.
