Offside, here’s how it will change – Corriere.it

There is some light at the bottom of the offside labyrinth: the technical direction of Fifa, entrusted to Arsene Wenger, historic Arsenal manager and now “head of global game development”, proceeds with the experimentation that has the aim of changing the offside rule and bringing it back to its original inspiration, to increase goals and entertainment, but in a in a certain sense also justice: according to the “Wenger law” the attacker’s whole body must be offside, beyond the line of the last man. On the horizon, if the change is implemented, there won’t be (or there shouldn’t be anymore) controversies or even frustrations for an offside toe. And technology should guarantee the correct application of the concept of “light” which even in the past, without tools such as the Var, has not avoided historic oversights, with relative fuss. A study already conducted on the Premier League indicates that the way is the right one, and that is to halve the actions currently considered offside. “The rule is being studied – explained the president of Fifa, Gianni Infantino in recent months – because we want football to be more offensive every day”.

The Italian Federation, in the under 18 category, was the forerunner. The results were satisfactory for all the protagonists. Given the importance of the issue, the referees were chosen in the Can series C, under the guidance of the former whistle Matthew Trefoloni now head of the technical sector at The Hague: «The experiment – ​​he explained – provides that a footballer is no longer considered punishable if any part of the body with which he can score a goal is in line with the penultimate defender. Therefore, in order for an offside to be sanctioned between the attacker in the most advanced position and the defender, there must be the so-called light, i.e. they must be visually separated». As had already happened with the Var in the summer of 2016 and with the semi-automatic offside in the second part of the last Serie A championship (a novelty that Wenger himself does not like at all), the FIGC is once again among the most reactive in the innovations and related experiments: «We confirm ourselves at the forefront of the development of the game – the federal president Gabriele Gravina underlined for the occasion -. We are not afraid of change and we will continue to study the effects of a modification of the offside rule which allows for more entertainment».

Now the experimental phase is up to the Sweden and Holland, in the men’s and women’s championships and go up in category (Under 21). “If this leads to a more attractive football as established by FIFA’s vision, that’s fine. I think the attackers should take advantage of it, everyone wants it – commented the international referee Jonas Eriksson -. There will be more goals, the matches will be more fun to watch. It’s nice to try to participate in these experiments, test and develop a starting idea». Given the fertile ground in which the Wenger reform moves, an acceleration of the decision-making process, which must be examined by the Ifab, would be desirable. Thinking of a revolution in view of the European Championship in Germany which starts in eleven months is very difficult. But the process of change has begun.