None of the points of the football code of laws, the foundations of which were laid in the last century, caused so many heated debates and did not change as many times as rule number 11 – the definition of an offside position. And now, it seems, the most popular ballgame is waiting for another makeover. The International Football Rules Board (IFAB) has proposed offside only if there is distance between the bodies of the defending and attacking players, meaning being closer to the goal than any part of the attacking body will no longer result in to the cancellation of a goal.
A similar interpretation was recently proposed by former London Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger, who now works at FIFA. And now his idea is about to come true. The novelty is supposed to be tested in the lower divisions of Sweden, the Netherlands and Italy. But surprisingly, the Russian Media League turned out to be ahead of the rest. In this tournament, a new version of the rules has already been applied, so they can be safely given the right to be called pioneers.
Photo source: Medialiga
Background
The offside rule originally came to football from its British counterpart, rugby union. And the problem was solved so radically – in principle, it is impossible to be ahead of the ball. At the dawn of football development, this state of affairs suited everyone – the players did not even have the idea of passing forward. But the subsequent evolution of the game dictated new conditions. And a footballer was considered offside if there were not three opponents in front of him, counting the goalkeeper. Gradually, the level of tactical thinking grew, and offside traps or artificial offside began to be used on the field. They were presented with more talent in Newcastle. Rivals even joked that getting off the train at the city station, they already feel out of the game.
Other innovations were the reduction of the number of players needed to fix the correct position from three to two and the introduction of the passive offside rule, the interpretation of which has also changed several times. Subsequently, it became possible to be on the same line with the last of the defenders, and only such situations are considered a deviation from the rule, if the ball can be legally scored with a part of the attacking player’s body – position. from the hands of the attacker does not affect the evaluation of the episode by the assistant referee.
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The last clarification was that a player who left the field without permission from the referee is considered to be on the field and is taken into account when constructing an offside line. After that, the debate on rule number 11 died down for a long time, and new discussions arose only after the introduction of the VAR system. Fans and pundits are seriously tired of looking at pinning the offside position to the toe of the boot or knee, which led to the coming changes.
Whats Next?
The new interpretation fully complies with the wishes of the international football authorities to increase the entertainment of the game. In addition, FIFA has previously recommended evaluating controversial episodes that do not have an unequivocal resolution in favor of the attacking side. The next step may perhaps be the full abolition of the offside rule, which, by the way, has been repeatedly proposed by former world football boss Sepp Blatter. But the current leaders of the international federation are not yet ready for such a radical change in the very essence of the game, perhaps this is for the better.
