Former Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger is proposing a change to the offside rule designed to return the advantage to attacking players.
Wenger is the global head of development for world governing body FIFA and believes VAR has essentially removed that advantage from the game.
At present, a player is ruled to be offside if any part of his body is beyond the last defender.
Wenger would like to see a change by which a player is considered onside if any part of his body is in line with the last defensive player.
He compared the proposal to a rule change made after the 1990 World Cup.
That tournament saw an average of 2.21 goals per match, the lowest in competition history, owing in large part to a rule that deemed an attacker to be offside if he was in line with the last defender before the goalkeeper.
Speaking to beIN Sports, Wenger said: “It was in 1990 after the World Cup in Italy when there were no goals scored.
“We decided that there is no offside any more when you are on the same line of the defender.
“In case of doubt, the doubt benefits the striker. That means when there’s a fraction, the striker did get the advantage.
“With VAR this advantage disappeared and for many people it’s frustrating.
“That’s why I proposed that as long as any part of your body is on the same line as the defender, you’re not offside.
“We are experimenting with it now. In one year, the decision will be made, by the IFAB, not by me.”
Wenger’s proposed change has been trialled in Italian youth football. The sport’s law-makers, the International Football Association Board (IFAB), agreed to further FIFA-led trials at its annual general meeting in March.
IFAB said the intention of the trials is to determine if the proposed changes “foster attacking football and encouraging goalscoring opportunities while maintaining the game’s attractiveness”.
A decision could be made on the proposals in 2026.
