❌Is the project falling through? UEFA stands against Wenger’s offside law | OneFootball

Elite football will not, for now, undergo the regulatory revolution proposed by Arsène Wenger. UEFA, together with the English Football Association (FA) and other British associations, has firmly rejected the radical change to the offside rule promoted by the current FIFA Director of Development. The proposal aimed to favor attackers, but European organizations believe its side effects would be counterproductive for the spectacle.

What did the proposed change consist of?

Wenger’s idea stated that a player would only be in an offside position if their entire body was completely beyond the last defender. As long as any part of the attacker’s body (with which they could score a goal) was in line with the opponent, the play would be considered legal. The goal was to eliminate the millimeter offside calls that VAR penalizes for just a few centimeters, simplifying the interpretation in favor of the “same line.”

An excessive tactical impact

However, UEFA maintains that this change is too drastic. They argue that it would force defenders to position themselves much further back, eliminating high defensive lines and altering the tactical essence of the modern game. Furthermore, the organizations have confirmed that there will be no changes before the World Cup, describing it as “unfair” to force national teams to adapt to such a structural modification in such a short period of time.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇪🇸 here.