Wenger proposes change to Offside rule

[Long slender neck]

Arsène Wenger is pressing to change the offside rule in his role as Fifa’s head of global development and his proposal could be passed in time for the Euro 2020 finals.

The former Arsenal manager wants a player to be onside if any part of their body that can score a goal is behind or level with the relevant defender.

His move follows a series of video assistant referee (VAR) decisions in which goals have been disallowed because a player has been fractionally offside.

A header by Chelsea’s Olivier Giroud against Manchester United on Monday was disallowed because part of his right boot was offside, for example, and Liverpool’s Roberto Firmino had a goal disallowed because of an armpit offside against Aston Villa.

“The most difficult [issue] that people have [with VAR] is the offside rule,” Wenger said at the Laureus Sports Awards in Berlin. “You have had offsides by a fraction of a centimetre, literally by a nose. It is the time to do this quickly.

“There is room to change the rule and not say that a part of a player’s nose is offside, so you are offside because you can score with that. Instead, you will be not be offside if any part of the body that can score a goal is in line with the last defender, even if other parts of the attacker’s body are in front.

“That will sort it out and you will no longer have decisions about millimetres and a fraction of the attacker being in front of the defensive line.”
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Wenger’s proposals will be considered by the law-making body, the International Football Association Board, on 29 February. The FAs of the four UK home nations and four Fifa representatives sit on the board and passing a motion requires a three-quarters majority. A change would come into force on 1 June, shortly before the European Championship finals which start 11 days later.

The existing law says: “A player is in an offside position if: any part of the head, body or feet is in the opponents’ half (excluding the halfway line) and any part of the head, body or feet is nearer to the opponents’ goal line than both the ball and the second-last opponent.”

https://www.theguardian.com/football/20 ... calls-ifab

This is pretty much the same as saying there has to be 'daylight' between an attacker and a defender isnt it? I imagine there will still be decisions based on millimetres, just looking at a different area. So it'll be closeups to see if an attackers trailing leg is in line with a chasing defenders arm etc. I guess its still an improvement as attackers wont be penalised as much for ridiculous 'advantages'.

[Max B Gold]

Sacre bleu. Football is dying on its arse if it has to be this complicated.

[Lucky7]

Sacre bleu. Football is dying on its arse if it has to be this complicated.

Zzzzzzzz

[Orient_Man_And_Boy]

IMO: do away with the Offside Law completely.

[Greenwich Orient]

Nothing wrong with the offside rule in my opinion, just the VAR technology. They seem to be unable to get the ‘clear and obvious’ interpretation right. If someone was offside by part of their nose, the time it has taken for VAR to draw the line, zoom in and out numerous times and make that determination, to me, renders the decision absolutely not clear and not obvious. If they can’t make the decision in 5-10 seconds then the original decision should stand. Just my thoughts.

[gshaw]

Wenger has it spot on, give the benefit of doubt to the attacker. Football is exciting because of goals being scored, not having them chalked off by virtual rulers and set squares from hundreds of miles away.

[Sid Bishop]

Wenger has it spot on, give the benefit of doubt to the attacker. Football is exciting because of goals being scored, not having them chalked off by virtual rulers and set squares from hundreds of miles away.

Agree.

[Give it to Jabo]

1-0 to Arsène...some of the VAR decisions have been telescopic...

[Cheshunto]

Thank God we don’t have VAR in L2
I agree with Wenger, something needs to be done

[EastDerehamO]

Yep, I’m in the camp of something needing to be done with VAR too, and echo the sentiments that thank goodness we don’t suffer it in L2.

The offside law is fine, VAR is the issue. Football was never meant to be a game to be clinically dissected in a laboratory full of screens with umpteen camera angles, and it’s not a game with as many natural regular breaks like other sports (e.g. cricket & tennis), so doesn’t lend itself to such delays. If there is a case for it, then I’d give a strict time limit of a few seconds, and if the on-field decision can’t be overturned within those seconds, then it’s not clear and obvious and the on-field decision stands. Simples!

[EliotNes]

IMO: do away with the Offside Law completely.

This

[StillSpike]

IMO: do away with the Offside Law completely.

This

Or

Just do away with the idea that every single little decision taken in the course or a bloody game has to be 100% dead on balls accurate. It's a sport, not micro-surgery.

Just do away with VAR.

[Adz]

Don't see how this will help, we'll still get the microscopic line comparison, will just mean more goals are scored. Gives the forward a big advantage, they can be a couple of feet offside (as the current rule is) but trail a toe in lie with the defender and would be on side. They should just do what they do in cricket, within a certain amount it's foes to the linesman original call.

[Disoriented]

Most sensible thing the fella has ever said!

[EH16]

Just need to scrap VAR. Problem sorted.

[greyhound]

VAR makes as many mistakes as referees do
in my opinion its spoiling the game.

[Orient_Man_And_Boy]

Can we remind AW that today is 'Tehoue Day' plus 9 years?

Didn't need VAR for that!

[Max B Gold]

Whatever happened to the days when the ball was cleared and the sweeper would shout "Out" and the entire defence would sprint to the half way line to play the opposing forwards offside if the ball was played to them. Great times.

I once saw Motherwell, under Ally McLeod, do this to ridiculous levels against St Mirren at the old Love Street. The St Midden Buddies were going ballistic. Well fans werent too happy either as poor Willie Pettigrew ran about like a madman as the single forward getting more and more frustrated. Horrible game.