Infantino: Let’s reflect on the offside rule and time-wasting.

The topic isn’t new, but it remains pressing. Especially in Portugal. With VAR, offside decisions are now scrutinized to the centimeter (literally, recalling a goal disallowed for Sudakov against Tondela by one centimeter) , but some argue that this rule needs to be changed.

Gianni Infantino, president of FIFA, opens the door to discussion. In Dubai, at the World Sport Summit, the head of world football promised:

Let’s reflect on the offside rule, which has evolved over the years requiring the attacker to position himself behind the defender, in line with him. Perhaps in the future he will have to be completely ahead of the defender to be offside,” admitted the Italian.

The idea is to define an offside position only when the attacker is completely beyond the defender, and no longer just when a part of their body can touch the ball (excluding arms and hands).

But we are also evaluating measures to avoid wasting time, Infantino added. “It’s important that the game flows smoothly, so interruptions must be kept to a minimum,” he said. The IFAB (International Football Association Board), the body that determines the laws of the game in world football, has already announced that it will study the so-called ‘Wenger Law’, in honor of Arsène Wenger, one of the main proponents of this new offside rule.