Vladimir Osipov – about the discussion around the offside position
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A new offside rule could be introduced in football in 2024. This was reported by the International Council of Football Associations. Testing has already begun in youth leagues in Sweden, Italy and the Netherlands. According to the new rules, offside is counted only if a player of the attacking team is ahead of the opponent with his whole body, and not just some part of it. Will the new rule take root in football? Kommersant FM sports commentator Vladimir Osipov looked into it.
The offside or offside rule has caused many scandals throughout the history of football. In the old days, it was determined who was closer to the goal, the attacking or defensive player, the referee on the field and his assistants on the sidelines. And, to put it mildly, they were not always right. It seemed that after the introduction of video replays and a new system that can determine the position of players down to the millimeter, the debate on this topic should end, but the authoritative coach Arsene Wenger, who received the position of head of the development department at FIFA, proposed his own option.
The former London Arsenal coach wants to count offside only if the attacking player is ahead of the defender with his whole body, and not just part of it. This will allow you to score more goals and make football more spectacular. But is it? There are many opponents of this idea in the football world. The reasons were explained by football refereeing expert Leonid Kaloshin:
“I often hear from my foreign colleagues who conduct research in various areas of football, not only related to arbitration: “Where is the guarantee that the defensive line will not sit deeper towards its goal?” That is, football may become more defensive because of this innovation. The things that Wenger is putting out now are just advertising ideas, not backed up by serious analytics and research.”
Still, FIFA officials are trying to investigate Wenger’s proposal. Already, junior leagues in three countries – Sweden, Italy and Holland – are playing according to the new rules. It would seem that the ice has broken, but despite the experiment, the new offside rule is unlikely to take root in big football, Leonid Kaloshin is sure: “This idea is already four years old, and it is not innovative. As for testing, they are carried out, but these are not centralized studies when permission is given by IFAB. And if after so much time this idea has not yet been approved, then the chances of this happening are very, very small.”
So why are FIFA officials trying to test something they have no intention of implementing? Football agent Vadim Trushkov has the answer to this question: “We now have a lot, and here Wenger does not mean, “effective managers.” How many of them are there in both Western and Russian clubs? And there are the same people in FIFA. Therefore, they need to prove that they are developing football.”
Lately there have really been too many creative proposals for changing football rules. It seems that multi-shift officials need to somehow justify their rather large salaries. Not long ago, the football world was seriously discussing proposals from Marco van Basten, who served as FIFA technical director.
The famous Dutchman wanted to abolish offside and divide the football match into quarters. Nowadays, few people remember this. Whether the proposal from Arsene Wenger will face the same fate will become clear after the tests are officially completed – that is, not earlier than 2025.
Everything is clear with us – Telegram channel “Kommersant FM”.
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