Football could be hit by most radical change to offside law in 30 YEARS as Wenger presses ahead with ‘daylight’ rule
ARSENE WENGER is set to press ahead with the most radical rule change football has seen in more than 30 years as he looks to implement his “daylight” offside law.
The former Arsenal boss is Fifa’s chief of global football development.
He has been a major advocate for a major change to the offside rule that will effectively mean there has to be “daylight” between attacker and defender for an offside offence.
The new rule dictates if any part of an attacker’s body that can score — head, torso or legs — is still in line with the defender then they should be judged onside.
Wenger, 74, has viewed results from trials for the new rule -performed in Sweden, Italy and the Netherlands – as positive, according to The Times.
And he is now set to propose this new offside law to football lawmakers at the International FA Board (Ifab).
The most recent major change to the offside law came in 1990, when Scotland successfully proposed that attackers could be onside if they are level with defenders instead of behind them.
Ex-Arsenal vice chairman David Dein backed the proposal when attending the Fifa congress in Bangkok last week, calling it “refreshingly innovative”.
However, ex-Portugal star Luis Figo, who is now head of Uefa’s Football Board, is understood to be among those with reservations to the idea.
Speaking in 2020, Wenger said: “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.
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“Instead, you will be not 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.”
Wenger also wants to introduce kick-ins in the defensive half if they are taken within five seconds to help speed up play.