Refereeing undergoes continuous evolution, adaptation, and changes in response to the evolving demands of soccer. This is evident through the efforts of IFAB, an organization accountable to FIFA and responsible for all aspects related to refereeing. Under the influence of Gianni Infantino, IFAB has gained significant prominence and has made certain bold decisions along the way.
With the start of each new season, changes emerge and are formulated, often starting as experimental ideas that eventually become implemented. As previously predicted by MARCA, the latest revolution is introduced by Arsene Wenger and concerns the offside rule. After engaging in discussions with all relevant stakeholders, the Frenchman has proposed this concept to IFAB for testing in upcoming weeks across various competitions, including those held in Italy and Sweden.
Infantino proposed to the FIFA development director to find an improvement that would benefit offensive soccer. And Wenger thinks he's found it. The Frenchman thinks that the spectacle will grow and proposes that the offside rule change. His idea is based on allowing the striker to be ahead of the defender, as long as he keeps a part of his body in contact with which he can score a goal in line with the last defender.
Wenger has drawn inspiration from a study carried out in the Premier League that says offside calls would be cut in half. "At some point measures will be taken and it may even be determined that with five or six centimeters it is not offside. Everything is under study," authorized IFAB sources told MARCA. Of the four offsides on average in each game, only two would be offside with the change in the rule, something that could make it possible for the game to be more offensive.
The initiative, which was launched in 2021, is now progressing towards realization through various tests conducted by FIFA. These initial steps closely resemble the approach taken in the past, such as the introduction of VAR, semi-automatic offside technology, and other innovative implementations witnessed in recent years.
Infantino has never hidden his desire to change. "It is in the study phase because we want soccer to be more offensive every day. In 135 years of history, it has only been changed twice. Arsene Wenger has presented us with one possibility, which is that there is no offside if the striker is in an offside position, but a part of the body with which you can score a goal is in line with the defense. In this way we would have a much more offensive football", he declared when the initiative began to take shape.
